Unit 2: Dynamics and Chaos

11 thoughts
last posted Oct. 29, 2013, 11:22 a.m.

9 earlier thoughts

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Chaos is seemingly random behavior with sensitive dependence on initial conditions. The logistic map can display chaos for higher values of R (growthrates), which is called deterministic chaos which is chaos arising from a completely deterministic system or equation. Perfect prediction is impossible in deterministic chaos since initial conditions can never be exactly known.

While perfect prediction study of chaos has led to universality in chaos which are the highly predictable universal properties of a wide variety of chaotic systems.

All systems which display the period doubling root to chaos result in the unimodal or "one humped" parabolic graph of population to next generation's population.

One such system is the sine map, which is the pure mathematical function:

x_t+1 = R / 4 sin(pi * x_t)

SineMap

Another universality is at what values of R the period bifurcations (doubling) occur. The bifurcations come quicker and quicker as R increases and approaches the onset of chaos. The rate at which the bifurcations is shrinking reaches a limit of ~4.6692016... which is known as Feigenbaum's constant which is a universal constant for chaotic systems with unimodal (one humped) graphs.

The Feigenbaum constant has been experimentally confirmed in chaotic systems such as fluid flow and electric circuits.

These universal properties are the order in the chaos.

1 later thought