針對自激吸引子,其吸引區域會伴隨一個不穩定的平衡點,因此可以用標準數值的程序來找自激吸引子,使軌跡從不穩定平衡點的鄰域開始,看是否會被吸引到某個振盪狀態中,若有,即為自激吸引子(自激振荡)。因此,自激吸引子就算和多穩態一起出現,也可用數值的方式發現吸引子,並加以視覺化。在洛伦茨吸引子中,針對經典的參數下,吸引子相對所有存在的平衡點都是自激吸引子, 可以在其附近將軌跡視覺化。不過有些參數下,會有二個平凡的吸引子和自激的混沌吸引子並存(自激吸引子只和不穩定的零平衡點有關)。Van der Pol(英语:Van der Pol)、B-Z反应、若斯叻吸引子、蔡氏電路和厄农映射的吸引子都是自激吸引子。
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Nonlinear Dynamical Systems with Self-Excited and Hidden Attractors (Eds.: Pham, Vaidyanathan, Volos et al.), Springer, 2018 (doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71243-7)