Global Universality at the Onset of Chaos: Results of a Forced Rayleigh-Bénard Experiment

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Abstract
We study an experimental orbit on a two-torus with a golden-mean winding number obtained from a forced Rayleigh-Bénard system at the onset of chaos. This experimental orbit is compared with the orbit generated by a simple theoretical model, the circle map, at its golden-mean winding number at the onset of chaos. The "spectrum of singularities" of the two orbits are compared. Within error, these are identical. Since the spectrum characterizes the metric properties of the entire orbit, this result confirms theoretical speculations that these orbits, taken as a whole, enjoy a kind of universality.