Violation of hyperbolicity via unstable dimension variability in a chain with local hyperbolic chaotic attractors

We consider a chain of oscillators with hyperbolic chaos coupled via diffusion. When the coupling is strong the chain is synchronized and demonstrates hyperbolic chaos so that there is one positive Lyapunov exponent. With the decay of the coupling the second and the third Lyapunov exponents approach zero simultaneously. The second one becomes positive, while the third one remains close to zero. Its finite-time numerical approximation fluctuates changing the sign within a wide range of the coupling parameter. These fluctuations arise due to the unstable dimension variability which is known to be the source for non-hyperbolicity. We provide a detailed study of this transition using the methods of Lyapunov analysis.