Due to roundoff, digital computer simulations of orbits on chaotic attractors will always eventually become periodic. The expected period, probability distribution of periods, and expected number of periodic orbits are investigated for the case of fractal chaotic attractors. The expected period scales with roundoff ε as ${\epsilon }^{\mathrm{-}d/2\mathrm{}}$, where d is the correlation dimension of the chaotic attractor.

• Received 11 April 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.38.3688