Peak-to-peak dynamics in the dynastic cycle

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the peak-to-peak dynamics (PPD) of a three-class model of the Dynastic Cycle in ancient China. While the asymptotic behavior generated by the prey–predator–superpredator structure of the model was thoroughly studied in an earlier paper [Feichtinger G, Forst CV, Piccardi C. A nonlinear dynamical model for the dynastic cycle. Chaos, Solitons & Fractals 1996;7:257–271], the analysis of the PPD provides new interesting insights into the properties of the system, by yielding a set of reduced models relating the peaksʹ amplitudes and their return times.