title: Experimental observation of Lorenz chaos in the Quincke rotor dynamics.
abstract: In this paper, we report experimental evidence of Lorenz chaos for the Quincke rotor dynamics. We study the angular motion of an insulating cylinder immersed in slightly conducting oil and submitted to a direct current electric field. The simple equations which describe the dynamics of the rotor are shown to be equivalent to the Lorenz equations. In particular, we observe two bifurcations in our experimental system. Above a critical value of the electric field, the cylinder rotates at a constant rate. At a second bifurcation, the system becomes chaotic. The characteristic shape of the experimental first return map provides strong evidence for Lorenz-type chaos.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, UMR 6622, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lobry
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lemaire