391

Chaotic systems via multi-step differential

transformation method
Ahmet Yildirim, Ahmet Gökdoğan, and Mehmet Merdan

Abstract: In this article, the multi-step differential transform method is implemented to give approximate and analytical sol-
utions of nonlinear fractional order ordinary differential equation systems, such as Chen, Lorenz, Arneodo–Coullet, Genesio,
Can. J. Phys. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by University of Waterloo on 09/06/13

Lui, and Rikitake chaotic systems. The numerical solutions obtained from the proposed method indicate that the approach is
easy, simple, and accurate when applied to systems of fractional differential equations. Numerical simulations are given to
verify the reliability and effectiveness of this method.
PACS Nos: 02.30.Hq, 02.30.Hq, 05.45.Pq
Résumé : Nous utilisons ici une méthode de transformée différentielle à plusieurs étapes qui nous donne des solutions ap-
proximatives et analytiques à des systèmes d’équations différentielles non linéaires d’ordre fractionnaire, comme celles des
systèmes chaotiques de Chen, Lorentz, Arneodo–Coullet, Genesio, Luis et Rikitake. Les valeurs numériques obtenues à
l’aide de la méthode proposée indiquent que l’approche est facile, simple et précise lorsqu’appliquée à des systèmes d’équa-
tions différentielles fractionnaires. Nous produisons des simulations numériques pour vérifier la fiabilité et l’efficacité de
cette méthode.
[Traduit par la Rédaction]
For personal use only.

1. Introduction biology, chemistry, acoustics, control theory, psychology, and

In this paper it is shown how the multi-step fractional dif-
ferential transform method (MsFDTM) can be exploited to
analyse the chaotic dynamics of the fractional order Chen [1,
2], Lorenz [3], Arneodo–Coullet [4, 5], Genesio [6], Lui [7],
and Rikitake [8] systems. In very recent papers, Arikoğlu and
Özkol [9] and Odibat et al. [10, 11] developed a new analyt-
ical technique for solving linear and nonlinear differential
equations of fractional order. This new technique is named
as fractional differential transform method (FDTM) and is
based on the classical differential transform method (DTM),
fractional power series, and Caputo fractional derivatives
[12]. They tested their approach on several examples and the
results obtained are in good agreement with the existing ones
in open literature. The Caputo fractional derivative first com-
putes an ordinary derivative followed by a fractional integral
to achieve the desired order of fractional derivative. The
Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative is computed in the
reverse order. Therefore, the Caputo fractional derivative al-
lows traditional initial and boundary conditions to be included
in the formulation of the problem, but the Riemann–
Liouville fractional derivative allows initial conditions in
terms of fractional integrals and their derivatives. With a
homogeneous initial condition assumption, these two operators
coincide.
Differential equations of fractional order have been the
subject of many studies owing to their implementation in var-
ious applications in fluid mechanics, viscoelasticity, physics,
Received 12 December 2011. Accepted 10 February 2012. Published at www.nrcresearchpress.com/cjp on 9 April 2012.
A. Yildirim. Ege University, Department of Mathematics, 35000 İzmir, Turkey.
A. Gökdoğan and M. Merdan. Gümüşhane University, Department of Mathematics Engineering, 29100-Gümüşhane, Turkey.
Corresponding author: (e-mail: ahmet.yildirim@ege.edu.tr).
engineering [13–22]. This is because a realistic modeling of a
physical phenomenon having dependence not only on the
current time instant, but also time history can be successfully
achieved using fractional calculus. Lately, a large number of
studies appeared concerning the application of fractional dif-
ferential equations in nonlinear dynamics [23–28]. As most
fractional differential equations do not have exact analytical
solutions, the present solutions are obtained from extensive
use of approximation and numerical techniques. Recently,
the Adomian decomposition method [29–34], homotopy per-
turbation method [35–40], homotopy analysis method [41],
and variational iteration method [42–44] have been applied
in solving a wide range of problems.
The DTM is a numerical as well as analytical method for
solving integral equations, ordinary and partial differential
equations, and differential equation systems. This method
provides the solution in terms of convergent series with
easily computable components. The concept of the differen-
tial transform was first proposed by Zhou [45] and its main
application concerns both linear and nonlinear initial value
problems in electrical circuit analysis. The DTM quickly
gives exact values of the nth derivative of an analytic func-
tion at a point in terms of known and unknown boundary
conditions. This method constructs, for differential equations,
an analytical solution in the form of a polynomial. It is differ-
ent from the traditional high order Taylor series method,
which requires symbolic computations of the necessary de-
rivatives of the data functions. The Taylor series method

Can. J. Phys. 90: 391–406 (2012) doi:10.1139/P2012-032 Published by NRC Research Press
 392 Can. J. Phys. Vol. 90, 2012

" #
takes a long time computationally for large orders. The DTM X
m1
1
is an iterative procedure for obtaining analytic Taylor series Dq
x0 f ðxÞ ¼ Dqx0 f ðxÞ  ðx  x0 Þk f ðkÞ ðx0 Þ ð5Þ
k¼0
k!
solutions of differential equations. Recently, the application
of the DTM has been successfully extended to obtain analyt-
Setting
ical approximate solutions to linear and nonlinear differential
equations of fractional order [46, 47]. X
m1
1
However, the DTM has some drawbacks. By using the f ðxÞ  ðx  x0 Þk f ðkÞ ðx0 Þ
DTM, we obtain a series solution; actually a truncated series k¼0
k!
solution. This series solution does not exhibit the real behav-
iors of the problem but gives a good approximation to the in (4) and using (6), we obtain fractional derivative in the
true solution in a very small region. To overcome this short- Caputo sense [12] as follows:
coming, the multi-step DTM (MsDTM) was presented in 1
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refs. 48 and 49. Dq
x0 f ðxÞ ¼

G ðm  qÞ
The aim of this paper is to extend the application of the 2x 8
Z <
Pm1 k ðkÞ
9 3
=
MsDTM [49] to solve fractional order Chaotic systems. d m f ðtÞ  ð1=k!Þðt  x Þ f ðx Þ
 m4 dt5 ð6Þ
k¼0 0 0
This paper is organized as follows. In Sect. 2, fractional : ;
dx ðx  tÞ1þqm
calculus and some useful stability theorems of fractional or- x0
der systems are briefly introduced. Section 3 is about the
MsFDTM. Section 4 focuses on the MsDTM to nonlinear because the initial conditions that are implemented are imple-
chaotic fractional order ordinary differential equation sys- mented to the integer-order derivatives, the transformation of
tems, such as Chen, Lorenz, Coullet, Genesio, Lui, and Riki- the initial conditions is defined as follows:
take systems. Conclusions are drawn in Sect. 5. 8  
>
> k þ 1 dk=a f ðxÞ
>
< if 2 Z
a ðk=aÞ! dxk=a x¼x0 for k¼0;1;2;...;ðqa1Þ
2. FDTM FðkÞ ¼
>
> k
>
: if 2 = Zþ 0
Consider a general system of fractional differential equa-
For personal use only.

a
tions:
ð7Þ
Da
1 x1 ðtÞ þ h1 ðt; x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xm Þ ¼ g1 ðtÞ where, q is the order of fractional differential equation con-
Da
2 x2 ðtÞ þ h2 ðt; x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xm Þ ¼ g2 ðtÞ sidered. The following theorems that can be deduced from
.. (4) and (5) (for proofs and details see ref. 9):
. Theorem 1. If z(t) = x(t) ± y(t), then Z(k) = X(k) ± Y(k).
Da
m xm ðtÞ þ hm ðt; x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xm Þ ¼ gm ðtÞ ð1Þ Theorem 2. If z(t) = cy(t), then Z(k) = cY(k).
P
Theorem 3. If z(t) = x(t)y(t), then Z(k) = kk1 ¼0 X(k1)Y(k –
where Da
i is the derivative of xi of order ai in the sense of k1).
Caputo, and 0 < ai ≤ 1, subject to the initial conditions Theorem 4. If z(t) = (t – t0)n, then Z(k) = d(k – ap) where,
x1 ðt0 Þ ¼ d1 ; x2 ðt0 Þ ¼ d2 ;    ; xm ðt0 Þ ¼ dm ð2Þ (
1 k¼0
dðkÞ ¼
In this paper, we introduce the MsFDTM used in this pa- 0 k 6¼ 0
per to obtain approximate analytical solutions for system of
fractional differential equations (1). This method was devel- Theorem 5. If zðtÞ ¼ Dqt0 ½gðtÞ then Z(k) = G[q + 1 + (k/
oped in ref. 12 as follows: a)][G(1 + k/a)]–1G(k + aq).
2x 3 According to the FDTM, by taking a differential transfor-
m Z
1 d 4 f ðtÞ mation of both sides of (1) and (2), the transformation is as
Dqx0 f ðxÞ ¼ dt5 ð3Þ
G ðm  qÞ dxm ðx  tÞ1þqm follows:
x0
G ½a1 ðk þ 1Þ þ 1
for m – 1 ≤ q < m, m∫ Z+, x > x0. Let us expand the analy- X1 ðk þ 1Þ þ H1 ðkÞ ¼ G1 ðkÞ
G ða1 k þ 1Þ
tical and continuous function f(x) in terms of a fractional G ½a2 ðk þ 1Þ þ 1
power series as follows: X2 ðk þ 1Þ þ H2 ðkÞ ¼ G2 ðkÞ
G ða2 k þ 1Þ
X
1
..
f ðxÞ ¼ FðkÞðx  x0 Þk=a ð4Þ .
k¼0
G ½am ðk þ 1Þ þ 1
Xm ðk þ 1Þ þ Hm ðkÞ ¼ Gm ðkÞ ð8Þ
where a is the order of the fraction, and F(k) is the fractional G ðam k þ 1Þ
differential transform of f(x).
To avoid fractional initial and boundary conditions, we de- X1 ð0Þ ¼ d1 ; X2 ð0Þ ¼ d2 ;    ; Xm ð0Þ ¼ dm ð9Þ
fine the fractional derivative in the Caputo sense. The rela-
tion between the Riemann–Liouville operator and Caputo Therefore, according to DTM the N-term approximations
operator is given by for (1) can be expressed as

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 Yildirim et al. 393

X
N G ðqk þ 1Þ
41;n ðtÞ ¼ x1 ðtÞ ¼ X1 ðkÞtk Xðk þ 1Þ ¼  faðYðkÞ  XðkÞg
k¼1
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
X
N G ðqk þ 1Þ
42;n ðtÞ ¼ x2 ðtÞ ¼ X2 ðkÞtk Yðk þ 1Þ ¼  
k¼1 G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
.. ( )
. X
k
 ðc  aÞXðkÞ  Xðk1 ÞZðk  k1 Þ  cYðkÞ
X
N
k1 ¼0
4m;n ðtÞ ¼ xm ðtÞ ¼ Xm ðkÞt k
ð10Þ
G ðak þ 1Þ
k¼1 Zðk þ 1Þ ¼  
G aðk þ 1Þ þ 1
( )
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3. MsFDTM Xk
 Xðk1 ÞYðk  k1 Þ  bZðkÞ
Approximate solutions (1) and (2) are generally, as will be k1 ¼0
shown in the numerical experiments of this paper, not valid
Xð0Þ ¼ 10 Yð0Þ ¼ 0 Zð0Þ ¼ 37 ð15Þ
for large t. A simple way of ensuring validity of the approxi-
mations for large t is to treat (8) and (9) as an algorithm for
approximating the solutions of (1) and (2) in a sequence of
intervals choosing the initial approximations as By applying the MsDTM to (15), Xi(n), Yi(n), and Zi(n)
satisfy the following recurrence relations for n = 1, 2, …,
x1;0 ðtÞ ¼ x1 ðt
Þ ¼ d1
N – 1:
x2;0 ðtÞ ¼ x2 ðt
Þ ¼ d2

.. G ðqk þ 1Þ
. Xi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  faðYi ðkÞ  Xi kÞg
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
xm;0 ðtÞ ¼ xm ðt
Þ ¼ dm
ð11Þ
For personal use only.

G ðqk þ 1Þ
To carry out the iterations in every subinterval [0, t1), [t1, Yi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  
t2), [t2, t3), ..., [tj–1, t) of equal length h, we would need to G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
know the values of the following [49]: ( )
X
k

x
1;0 ðtÞ ¼ x1 ðt
Þ; x
2;0 ðtÞ ¼ x2 ðt
Þ; . . . ; x
m;0 ðtÞ ¼ xm ðt
Þ ð12Þ  ðc  aÞXi ðkÞ  Xi ðk1 ÞZi ðk  k1 Þ  cYi ðkÞ
k1 ¼0
But, in general, we do not have this information at our dis- G ðqk þ 1Þ
Zi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  
posal except at the initial point t* = t0. A simple way of ob-
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
taining the necessary values could be by means of the
( )
previous n-term approximations 41;n ; 42;n ; . . . ; 4m;n of the pre- Xk
ceding subinterval, that is,  Xi ðk1 ÞYi ðk  k1 Þ  bZi ðkÞ
k1 ¼0
x
1;0 ffi 41;n ðt
Þ; x
2;0 ffi 42;n ðt
Þ; . . . ; x
m;0 ffi 4m;n ðt
Þ ð13Þ
X0 ð0Þ ¼ 10 Y0 ð0Þ ¼ 0 Z0 ð0Þ ¼ 37
Xi ð0Þ ¼ Xi1 ðti Þ Yi ð0Þ ¼ Yi1 ðti Þ Zi ð0Þ ¼ Zi1 ðti Þ
4. Numerical results i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; K  M ð16Þ
We will apply the classic DTM and the MsDTM to nonlin-
ear chaotic fractional order ordinary differential equation sys- Figure 1 shows the phase portraits for system (14) ob-
tems, such as Chen, Lorenz, Coullet, Genesio, Lui, and tained for different values of q. This system was calculated
Rikitake systems. numerically against q ∈ {0.75, 0.8, 0.9, 1}. System (14) cor-
responds to the integer-order system with q = 1. The phase
4.1. Chen system plot X–Y is depicted in Fig. 1a. Projections of the period-2
Now, we take the Chen system into consideration. In 1999, cycle appear in Fig. 1a. The phase plot X–Z is depicted in
the Chen system was found by Chen and Ueta [1, 2]. Frac- Fig. 1b. The phase plot Y–Z is depicted in Fig. 1c. The cha-
tional order nonlinear differential equations that describe the otic attractors projected onto the three-dimensional phase
Chen system are space, X–Y–Z when q = 0.75, 0.8, 0.9, and 1.0, are shown
da x da y in Fig. 2.
¼ aðy  xÞ ¼ ðc  aÞx  xz þ cy
dta dta
a 4.2. Lorenz system
d z
¼ xy  bz ð14Þ Here, we take the Lorenz system into consideration. In
dta 1963, the Lorenz system was found by Edward Lorenz [3].
where a, b, and c are positive real numbers. The Chen sys- It is a chaotic system with a double scroll attractor. Fractional
tem has chaotic behavior for the parameters (a, b, c) = (35, order nonlinear differential equations that describe the Lorenz
12, 28). By applying the DTM to (14) system are
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 394 Can. J. Phys. Vol. 90, 2012

Fig. 1. Chaotic attractors obtained using the five term MsDTM phase plots with dt = 0.0001 and time span [0, 20]: (a) X–Y; (b) X–Z; (c) Y–
Z; (a1), (b1), and (c1) for q = 1; (a2), (b2), and (c2) for q = 0.9; (a3), (b3), and (c3) for q = 0.8; and (a4), (b4), and (c4) for q = 0.75.
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 Yildirim et al. 395

Fig. 2. Phase portraits of a fractional order Chen system for different q with time span [0, 20].
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dq x dq y By applying the MsDTM to (18), Xi(n), Yi(n), and Zi(n)

¼ aðy  xÞ ¼ cx  xz  y
dtq dtq satisfy the following recurrence relations for n = 1, 2, …,
dq z N – 1:
¼ xy  bz ð17Þ
dtq
where a, b, and c are positive real numbers. The Lorenz sys-
G ðqk þ 1Þ
tem has chaotic behavior for the parameters (a, b, c) = (10, Xi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  faðYi ðkÞ  Xi kÞg
8/3, 28). By applying the DTM to (17) G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
G ðqk þ 1Þ G ðqk þ 1Þ
Xðk þ 1Þ ¼  faðYðkÞ  XðkÞg Yi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
( )
G ðqk þ 1Þ Xk
Yðk þ 1Þ ¼  
 cXi ðkÞ  Xi ðk1 ÞZi ðk  k1 Þ  Yi ðkÞ
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
k1 ¼0
( )
Xk G ðqk þ 1Þ
 cXðkÞ  Xðk1 ÞZðk  k1 Þ  YðkÞ Zi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  
k1 ¼0 G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
( )
G ðqk þ 1Þ Xk
Zðk þ 1Þ ¼  
 Xi ðk1 ÞYi ðk  k1 Þ  bZi ðkÞ
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
k1 ¼0
( )
Xk X0 ð0Þ ¼ 10 Y0 ð0Þ ¼ 0 Z0 ð0Þ ¼ 37
 Xðk1 ÞYðk  k1 Þ  bZðkÞ
Xi ð0Þ ¼ Xi1 ðti Þ Yi ð0Þ ¼ Yi1 ðti Þ Zi ð0Þ ¼ Zi1 ðti Þ
k1 ¼0
i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; K  M ð19Þ
Xð0Þ ¼ 10 Yð0Þ ¼ 0 Zð0Þ ¼ 37 ð18Þ

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 396 Can. J. Phys. Vol. 90, 2012

Fig. 3. Chaotic attractors obtained using the five term MsDTM phase plots with dt = 0.001 and time span [0, 100]: (a) X–Y; (b) X–Z; (c) Y–Z;
(a1), (b1), and (c1) for q = 1; (a2), (b2), and (c2) for q = 0.9; (a3), (b3), and (c3) for q = 0.8; and (a4), (b4), and (c4) for q = 0.78.
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Figure 3 shows the phase portraits for system (17) ob-
tained for different values of q. This system was calculated
numerically against q ∈ {0.78, 0.8, 0.9, 1}. System (17) cor-
responds to the integer-order system with q = 1. It was found
that when 0.79 ≤ q ≤ 1, system (17) behaves chaotically.
When q = 0.78, the chaotic motion disappears. The phase
plot X–Y is depicted in Fig. 3a. The phase plot X–Z is depicted
in Fig. 3b. The phase plot Y–Z is depicted in Fig. 3c. The cha-
otic attractors projected onto three-dimensional phase space,
X–Y–Z when q = 0.78, 0.8, 0.9, and 1.0, are shown in Fig. 4.

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 Yildirim et al. 397

Fig. 4. Phase portrait of the fractional order Lorenz system for different q with time span [0, 100].
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4.3. Arneodo–Coullet system By applying the MsDTM to (21), Xi(n), Yi(n), and Zi(n)
Here, we take the Arneodo–Coullet system into considera- satisfy the following recurrence relations for n = 1, 2, …,
tion. In 1981, the Arneodo–Coullet chaotic system, which is N – 1:
one of the paradigms of the chaotic systems proposed by A.
G ðqk þ 1Þ
Arneodo, P. Coullet, and C. Tresser [4, 5], was discovered. Xi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  fYi ðkÞg
Fractional order nonlinear differential equations that describe G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
the Lorenz system are
G ðqk þ 1Þ
dq x dq y dq z Yi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  fZi ðkÞg
¼y ¼z ¼ cz þ by þ ax þ dx3 ð20Þ G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
dtq dtq dtq
G ðqk þ 1Þ 
where a, b, and c are positive real numbers. The Arneodo– Zi ðk þ 1Þ ¼   cZi ðkÞ þ bYi ðkÞ þ aXi ðkÞ
Coullet system has chaotic behavior for the parameters (a, b, G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
c, d) = (0.8, –1.1, –0.45, –1). By applying the DTM to (20)
X
k X
k2
G ðqk þ 1Þ þd Xi ðk1 ÞXi ðk2  k1 ÞXi ðk  k2 Þ
Xðk þ 1Þ ¼  fYðkÞg
k2 ¼0 k1 ¼0
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
X0 ð0Þ ¼ 0:1 Y0 ð0Þ ¼ 0:41 Z0 ð0Þ ¼ 0:31
G ðqk þ 1Þ
Yðk þ 1Þ ¼  fZðkÞg Xi ð0Þ ¼ Xi1 ðti Þ Yi ð0Þ ¼ Yi1 ðti Þ Zi ð0Þ ¼ Zi1 ðti Þ
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; K  M ð22Þ

G ðqk þ 1Þ
Zðk þ 1Þ ¼   cZðkÞ þ bYðkÞ þ aXðkÞ
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 Figure 5 shows the phase portraits for system (20) ob-
tained for the different values of q. This system was calcu-
Xk Xk2  lated numerically against q ∈ {0.4, 0.5, 0.8, 1}. System (20)
þd Xðk1 ÞXðk2  k1 ÞXðk  k2 Þ corresponds to the integer-order system with q = 1. The
k2 ¼0 k1 ¼0 phase plot X–Y is depicted in Fig. 5a. The phase plot X–Z is
Xð0Þ ¼ 0:1 Yð0Þ ¼ 0:41 Zð0Þ ¼ 0:31 ð21Þ depicted in Fig. 5b. The phase plot Y–Z is depicted in Fig. 5c.

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 398 Can. J. Phys. Vol. 90, 2012

Fig. 5. Chaotic attractors obtained using the five term MsDTM with dt = 0.001 and time span [0, 100]: (a) X–Y; (b) X–Z; (c) Y–Z; (a1), (b1),
and (c1) for q = 1; (a2), (b2), and (c2) for q = 0.8; (a3), (b3), and (c3) for q = 0.5; and (a4), (b4), and (c4) for q = 0.4.
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The chaotic attractors projected onto the three-dimensional 4.4. Genesio system
phase space, X–Y–Z when q = 0.4, 0.5, 0.8, and 1.0, are Here, we take the Genesio system into consideration. The
shown in Fig. 6. Genesio system, found in 1992 by Roberto Genesio and Tesi

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 Yildirim et al. 399

Fig. 6. Phase portrait of the fractional order Arneodo–Coullet system for different q with time span [0, 100].
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[6], is one of the paradigms of chaos, as it captures many By applying the MsDTM to (24), Xi(n), Yi(n), and Zi(n)
features of chaotic systems. It includes a simple square part satisfy the following recurrence relations for n = 1, 2, …,
and three simple ordinary differential equations that depend N – 1:
on three positive real parameters. Fractional order nonlinear
differential equations that describe the Genesio system are G ðqk þ 1Þ
Xi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  fYi ðkÞg
dq x dq y dq z G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
¼y ¼z ¼ az  by  cx þ x2 ð23Þ
dtq dtq dtq G ðqk þ 1Þ
Yi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  fZi ðkÞg
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
where a, b, and c are positive real numbers. The Genesio 
system has chaotic behavior for the parameters (a, b, c) = G ðqk þ 1Þ
(1.2, 2.92, 6). By applying the DTM to (23) Zi ðk þ 1Þ ¼    aZi ðkÞ  bYi ðkÞ
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
G ðqk þ 1Þ 
Xðk þ 1Þ ¼  fYðkÞg X
k
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1  cXi ðkÞ þ Xi ðk1 ÞXi ðk  k1 Þ
k1 ¼0
G ðqk þ 1Þ
Yðk þ 1Þ ¼  fZðkÞg X0 ð0Þ ¼ 0:2 Y0 ð0Þ ¼ 0:3 Z0 ð0Þ ¼ 0:1
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 Xi ð0Þ ¼ Xi1 ðti Þ Yi ð0Þ ¼ Yi1 ðti Þ Zi ð0Þ ¼ Zi1 ðti Þ
G ðqk þ 1Þ i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; K  M ð25Þ
Zðk þ 1Þ ¼  
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
( ) Figure 7 shows the phase portraits for system (23) ob-
X
k
tained for the different values of q. This system was calcu-
 aZðkÞ  bYðkÞ  cXðkÞ þ Xðk1 ÞXðk  k1 Þ lated numerically against q ∈ {0.62, 0, 7, 0.8, 1}. System
k1 ¼0
(23) corresponds to the integer-order system with q = 1. It
Xð0Þ ¼ 0:2 Yð0Þ ¼ 0:3 Zð0Þ ¼ 0:1 ð24Þ was found that when 0.63 ≤ q ≤ 1 system (23) behaves cha-

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 400 Can. J. Phys. Vol. 90, 2012

Fig. 7. Chaotic attractors obtained using the five term MsDTM with dt = 0.001 and time span [0, 100]: (a) X–Y; (b) X–Z; (c) Y–Z; (a1), (b1),
and (c1) for q = 1; (a2), (b2), and (c2) for q = 0.8; (a3), (b3), and (c3) for q = 0.7; and (a4), (b4), and (c4) for q = 0.62.
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otically. When q = 0.62, the chaotic motion disappears. The The chaotic attractors projected onto three-dimensional phase
phase plot X–Y is depicted in Fig. 7a. The phase plot X–Z is space, X–Y–Z when q = 0.62, 0.7, 0.8, and 1.0, are shown in
depicted in Fig. 7b. The phase plot Y–Z is depicted in Fig. 7c. Fig. 8.

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 Yildirim et al. 401

Fig. 8. Phase portrait of a fractional order Genesio system for different q with time span [0, 100].
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4.5. Liu system By applying the MsDTM to (27), Xi(n), Yi(n), and Zi(n)
Here, we take the Liu system into consideration. In 2004, satisfy the following recurrence relations for n = 1, 2, …,
Chongxin Liu et al. found a new chaotic dynamical system N – 1:
[7]. Fractional order nonlinear differential equations that de-
G ðqk þ 1Þ
scribe the Liu system are Xi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  faðYi ðkÞ  Xi ðkÞÞg
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
dq x dq y
¼ aðy  xÞ ¼ bx  xz G ðqk þ 1Þ
dtq dtq Yi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  
q
dz G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
¼ cz þ 4x2 ð26Þ
dtq ( )
X
k
where a, b, and c are positive real numbers. The Liu system  bXi ðkÞ  Xi ðk1 ÞZi ðk  k1 Þ
has chaotic behavior for the parameters (a, b, c) = (10, 40, k1 ¼0
2.5). By applying the DTM to (26) G ðqk þ 1Þ
Zi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  
G ðqk þ 1Þ G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
Xðk þ 1Þ ¼  faðYðkÞ  XðkÞÞg
( )
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 X
k
( )  cZi ðkÞ þ 4 Xi ðk1 ÞXi ðk  k1 Þ
G ðqk þ 1Þ X k
k1 ¼0
Yðk þ 1Þ ¼   bXðkÞ  Xðk1 ÞZðk  k1 Þ
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 k1 ¼0 X0 ð0Þ ¼ 2:2 Y0 ð0Þ ¼ 2:4 Z0 ð0Þ ¼ 38
Xi ð0Þ ¼ Xi1 ðti Þ Yi ð0Þ ¼ Yi1 ðti Þ Zi ð0Þ ¼ Zi1 ðti Þ
G ðqk þ 1Þ
Zðk þ 1Þ ¼   i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; K  M ð28Þ
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
( ) Figure 9 shows the phase portraits for system (26) ob-
X
k
tained for the different values of q. Figure 9 indicates peri-
 cZðkÞ þ 4 Xðk1 ÞXðk  k1 Þ odic behavior of the approximate solutions for system (26)
k1 ¼0
obtained for the values of q = 1, 0.8, 0.7, and 0.6. System
Xð0Þ ¼ 2:2 Yð0Þ ¼ 2:4 Zð0Þ ¼ 38 ð27Þ (26) corresponds to the integer-order system with q = 1. The

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 402 Can. J. Phys. Vol. 90, 2012

Fig. 9. Chaotic attractors obtained using the five term MsDTM with dt = 0.001 and time span [0, 30]: (a) X–Y; (b) X–Z; (c) Y–Z; (a1), (b1),
and (c1) for q = 1; (a2), (b2), and (c2) for q = 0.8; (a3), (b3), and (c3) for q = 0.7; and (a4), (b4), and (c4) for q = 0.6.
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phase plot X–Y is depicted in Fig. 9a. The phase plot X–Z is
depicted in Fig. 9b. The phase plot Y–Z is depicted in Fig. 9c.
The chaotic attractors projected onto three-dimensional phase
space, X–Y–Z when q = 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, and 1.0, are shown in
Fig. 10. This nonlinear system displays the complexity and
abundance of the chaotic dynamics behavior, the strange at-
tractors are indicated in Figs. 9 and 10. Apparently, the
strange attractors in this nonlinear system are different from
the Lorenz chaos attractors. The combined structure of the
butterfly attractor obtained by joining together two simple at-

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 Yildirim et al. 403

Fig. 10. Phase portrait of the fractional order Liu system for different q with time span [0, 30].
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tractors after performing one mirror operation is discovered where m and a are positive real numbers. The Rikitake sys-
here. tem has chaotic behavior for the parameters (m, a) = (2, 5).
By applying the DTM to (29)
4.6. Rikitake system
G ðqk þ 1Þ
Here, we will consider the Rikitake system. In 1958, a Xðk þ 1Þ ¼  
two-disc dynamo system idealized by the Japanese geophysi- G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
cist Rikitake [8] was invented to study the reversals of the ( )
Earth’s magnetic field. Geophysicists have long been aston- X
k
 mXðkÞ þ Yðk1 ÞZðk  k1 Þ
ished by one striking aspect of the Earth’s geomagnetic field: k1 ¼0
it has inverted its polarity many times during geological his-
G ðqk þ 1Þ
tory. The average interval between geomagnetic polarity re- Yðk þ 1Þ ¼  
versals is about 7 × 105 a. However, the time series of G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
reversals is highly irregular: there have been intervals as ( )
long as 3 × 107 a when the polarity apparently remained un- X
k

changed. One model that attempts to explain the reversal of  mYðkÞ  aXðkÞ  Xðk1 ÞZðk  k1 Þ
k1 ¼0
Earth’s magnetic field is the Rikitake system [8, 50]. This ( )
system describes the currents of two coupled dynamo disks. G ðqk þ 1Þ X
k

Fractional order nonlinear differential equations that describe Zðk þ 1Þ ¼   dðkÞ  Xðk1 ÞYðk  k1 Þ
the Rikitake system are G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 k1 ¼0

dq x dq y Xð0Þ ¼ 2 Yð0Þ ¼ 3 Zð0Þ ¼ 4 ð30Þ

¼ mx þ yz ¼ my þ ðz  aÞx
dtq dtq By applying the MsDTM to (30), Xi(n), Yi(n), and Zi(n)
dq z satisfy the following recurrence relations for n = 1,2, …,
¼ 1  xy ð29Þ
dtq N – 1:
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 404 Can. J. Phys. Vol. 90, 2012

Fig. 11. Chaotic attractors obtained using the five term MsDTM with dt = 0.001 and time span [0, 20]: (a) X–Y; (b) X–Z; (c) Y–Z; (a1), (b1),
and (c1) for q = 1; (a2), (b2), and (c2) for q = 0.95; (a3), (b3), and (c3) for q = 0.9; and (a4), (b4), and (c4) for q = 0.89.
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 Yildirim et al. 405

Fig. 12. Phase portrait of the fractional order Rikitake system for different q with time span [0, 20].
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G ðqk þ 1Þ otically. When q = 0.89, system (29) does not display chaotic
Xi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 behavior, but periodic orbits appear, which indicates that
( ) there is no chaos in the fractional-order Rikitake system. The
X
k phase plot X–Y is depicted in Fig. 11a. The phase plot X–Z is
 mXi ðkÞ þ Yi ðk1 ÞZi ðk  k1 Þ depicted in Fig. 11b. The phase plot Y–Z is depicted in
k1 ¼0 Fig. 11c. The chaotic attractors projected onto three-dimen-
G ðqk þ 1Þ sional phase space, X–Y–Z when q = 0.89, 0.9, 0.95, and
Yi ðk þ 1Þ ¼   1.0, are shown in Fig. 12.
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1
Seemingly, the evolution of the chaos trajectories is very
( )
X
k sensitive to initial conditions and values of parameters in the
 mYi ðkÞ  aXi ðkÞ  Xi ðk1 ÞZi ðk  k1 Þ nonlinear system. When the initial values are changed, the
k1 ¼0 chaotic dynamic behavior disappears immediately.
G ðqk þ 1Þ
Zi ðk þ 1Þ ¼  
G qðk þ 1Þ þ 1 5. Conclusion
( ) In this work, we carefully proposed an efficient algorithm
X
k
of the MsDTM, which introduces an efficient tool for solving
 dðkÞ  Xi ðk1 ÞYi ðk  k1 Þ
k1 ¼0
chaotic nonlinear differential equations systems of fractional
order. The study emphasized our belief that the method is a
X0 ð0Þ ¼ 2 Y0 ð0Þ ¼ 3 Z0 ð0Þ ¼ 4 reliable technique to solve chaotic systems of fractional order.
Xi ð0Þ ¼ Xi1 ðti Þ Yi ð0Þ ¼ Yi1 ðti Þ Zi ð0Þ ¼ Zi1 ðti Þ Finally, generally speaking, the proposed approach can be
i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; K  M ð31Þ further implemented to solve other nonlinear problems in the
fractional calculus field.
Figure 11 shows the phase portraits for system (29) ob-
tained for different values of q. Figure 11 indicates periodic Acknowledgements
behavior of the approximate solutions for system (29) ob- AY thanks TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological
tained for the values of q = 1, 0.95, 0.9, and 0.89. System Research Council of Turkey) for their financial support and
(29) corresponds to the integer-order system with q = 1. It grant for research entitled Integrable Systems and Soliton
was found that when 0.9 ≤ q ≤ 1, system (29) behaves cha- Theory at University of South Florida.

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 406
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