Paper 4, Section I, D

Dynamical Systems
Part II, 2014

Consider the map xn+1=λxn(1xn2)x_{n+1}=\lambda x_{n}\left(1-x_{n}^{2}\right) for 1xn1-1 \leqslant x_{n} \leqslant 1. What is the maximum value, λmax\lambda_{\max }, for which the interval [1,1][-1,1] is mapped into itself?

Analyse the first two bifurcations that occur as λ\lambda increases from 0 towards λmax\lambda_{\max }, including an identification of the values of λ\lambda at which the bifurcation occurs and the type of bifurcation.

What type of bifurcation do you expect as the third bifurcation? Briefly give your reasoning.