Roles of chaotic saddle and basin of attraction in bifurcation and crisis analysis

This paper is devoted to the dynamical behavior of a parametrically driven double-well Duffing (PDWD) system. Despite the invariant property of symmetry, this simple model exhibits a large diversity of patterns which can be observed in different situations. The transitions between symmetric forms of system responses often lead to bifurcation or crisis and complicated behaviors, such as the coexistence of different kinds of attractors. The bifurcations and crises are discussed, especially those inside the main periodic window. In particular, the role of chaotic saddles and their intrinsic links with the basin of attraction and transient chaos is studied.