Strange attractors in a dynamical system inspired by a seasonally forced SIR model

Abstract: We analyze a multiparameter periodically-forced dynamical system inspired in the SIR endemic model. We show that the condition on the \emph{basic reproduction number} $\mathcal{R}_0 < 1$ is not sufficient to guarantee the elimination of \emph{Infectious} individuals due to a \emph{backward bifurcation}. Using the theory of rank-one attractors, for an open subset in the space of parameters where $\mathcal{R}_0<1$, the flow exhibits \emph{persistent strange attractors}. These sets are not confined to a tubular neighbourhood in the phase space, are numerically observable and shadow the ghost of a two-dimensional invariant torus. Although numerical experiments have already suggested that periodically-forced biological models may exhibit observable chaos, a rigorous proof was not given before. Our results agree well with the empirical belief that intense seasonality induces chaos. This work provides a preliminary investigation of the interplay between seasonality, deterministic dynamics and the prevalence of strange attractors in a nonlinear forced system inspired by biology.