| Abstract: | We report on experimental investigations of a periodically perturbed Neon glow discharge in a parameter range where the unperturbed system is characterized by the existence of p- and r- waves. Though the experimental plasma system has many potential degrees of freedom, its phase space behaviour is low dimensional. The discharge current exhibits sequences of periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic states which in many aspects correspond to a dissipative circle map. Moreover experiments show that the system displays a route to chaos via formation of entrainment islands and subsequent folding and break up of the tori, which cannot be described by a one-dimensional theory, and which has not been reported in the literature until now. |
