A Dream Came True: Unveiling Chaos in Nonlinear Circuits with Physical Memristors

Abstract

In the previous decade, researchers in the field of nonlinear circuits had the “dream” to use physical memristors, the only fundamental nonlinear circuit element, in new or other reported nonlinear circuits in literature, aiming to explore chaos experimentally. In 2020, a significant milestone was achieved by presenting a well-known nonlinear circuit utilizing a commercially available memristor (KNOWM memristor). This breakthrough led to the observation of intriguing phenomena related to chaos theory, including the period-doubling route to chaos, coexisting attractors, and various types of chaotic attractors such as one-scroll and double-scroll. Subsequent to this pioneering work, additional attempts have been reported in literature over the last few years. Hence, this talk will trace the evolution from nonlinear circuits employing memristor emulators, over the past decade, to those utilizing physical memristors nowadays. Furthermore, the difficulties, as well as the new perspectives on this field will be discussed and some thoughts for future research will be presented.

Bio

Dr. Christos Volos is an accomplished researcher and academic with expertise in physics, particularly in the field of nonlinear circuits, chaotic systems, and their applications. He received his Physics Diploma degree (1999), M.Sc. degree in electronics (2002), and Ph.D. degree (2008) in chaotic electronics from the Physics Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. He currently serves there as an Associate Professor and he is a member of the Laboratory of Nonlinear Systems, Circuits & Complexity (LaNSCom).

His current research interests include chaos, nonlinear systems, mem-elements, design of analog and mixed signal electronic circuits, neural networks, chaotic electronics and their applications (secure communications, cryptography, robotics), and chaotic synchronization and control.

Dr. Volos has published 204 papers in international journals, 58 book chapters, 126 international conference papers, 20 national conferences papers, in addition to editing 10 books and 2 books as an author on the topic of nonlinear circuits and systems. Furthermore, he is an Editorial Board Member of 11 international journals and has been a Guest Editor of more than 30 Special Issues in international journals. Dr. Volos is also closely associated with several international journals, where he serves as a reviewer and he collaborates with many research institutes and universities in projects related to the understanding of chaotic systems and their practical applications.