
Symmetric 
Chaos 
273 
determine the critical values can form trapping regions, confining the 
dynamics.  (Observe  how  the cusped  triangle is folded  up  and laid 
down within itself.)  If  no stable regular dynamics is possible  within 
such 
a 
region,  then 
a 
strange attractor must  be present;  moreover, 
it is likely to encounter the fold lines along parts of  the edge 
of 
that 
region. 
So 
critical  values  provide 
a 
plausible  mechanisms 
for 
the 
formation of  attractors, especially  strange attractors. 
For 
mappings in the plane it often seems 
to 
be the case that the 
critical 
set, 
or 
its first 
or 
second iterate, lie very close to any attractors 
that occur.  One question  that this raises 
is 
the following:  when  can 
we  obtain  the attractor by  iterating the critical  set?  Clearly  this 
cannot  happen  for  diffeomorphisms;  but  the numerical  evidence  is 
that it happens for 
a 
very broad  class of  maps. 
4.3 
Torus 
Maps 
This section  describes  preliminary  stages 
of 
some joint  work  with 
Golubitsky, which was stimulated by 
a 
morning television programme 
in  Minneapolis  on  computer  design 
of 
textiles.  An  especially  rich 
source of  symmetric strange attractors arises from equivariant  torus 
maps 
f 
: 
T2 
-, 
T2 
where 
T2 
is the 2-torus.  Here  we  discuss  the 
D 
4 
-equi var i 
an 
t 
family 
of 
maps 
(A 
+ 
a 
cos(2sy)) sin(2nz) 
+ 
psin(4rz) 
+ 
rsin(6rz) 
cos(4ny) 
+ 
Az 
(A 
+ 
a 
cos(27rc)) sin(2ny) 
+ 
psin(4sy) 
+ 
7 
sin(6sy) 
cos(4rz) 
+ 
Ay 
(4) 
where 
a, 
P,7, 
A 
are red 
parameters and 
k 
is 
an 
integer  parameter. 
The form of  this mapping is deduced from 
a 
Fourier  expansion, to- 
gether with linear terms, by applying the generators of the symmetry 
group 
D4 
of  the unit square defining 
a 
fundamental domain for the 
torus.  Only ‘low order’ terms of  the Fourier  series are retained here. 
We  content ourselves with  some examples revealing  the extraor- 
dinary richness of  these maps. 
The sequence in Figure 
8 
illustrates 
a 
symmetry-increasing crisis. 
In (a) we 
see 
one attractor, symmetric about 
a 
diagonal.  In (b) we 
see 
its four conjugates.  In (c) not  all of  the attractor has yet  appeared, 
because 
of 
intermittency.  The figure shows three pairs of 
sets, 
each