Abstract
The generic properties of the nonlinear interaction of three drift waves with finite k are investigated. The different types of stationary or quasistationary states are characterized by the bifurcation diagram in γ1, κ parameter space, where γ1 measures the mode excitation and κ the parallel wavenumber. The transition to turbulence corresponds exactly to the Ruelle–Takens picture: steady state→periodic solution→doubly periodic solution→turbulence, in contrast to the period‐doubling route usually observed in low‐dimensional dynamic systems. The transition to k=0, the model of Horton and Terry [Phys. Fluids 2 5, 491 (1982)], occurs at very small values of k.