Dynamics at infinity and a Hopf bifurcation arising in a quadratic system with coexisting attractors

Dynamics at infinity and a Hopf bifurcation for a Sprott E system with a very small perturbation constant are studied in this paper. By using Poincare compactification of polynomial vector fields in R-3, the dynamics near infinity of the singularities is obtained. Furthermore, in accordance with the centre manifold theorem, the subcritical Hopf bifurcation is analysed and obtained. Numerical simulations demonstrate the correctness of the dynamical and bifurcation analyses. Moreover, by choosing appropriate parameters, this perturbed system can exhibit chaotic, quasiperiodic and periodic dynamics, as well as some coexisting attractors, such as a chaotic attractor coexisting with a periodic attractor for a > 0, and a chaotic attractor coexisting with a quasiperiodic attractor for a = 0. Coexisting attractors are not associated with an unstable equilibrium and thus often go undiscovered because they may occur in a small region of parameter space, with a small basin of attraction in the space of initial conditions.