strange attractor

English - English

Definition of strange attractor in English English dictionary: An attractor that has non-integer dimension or whose dynamics on it are chaotic; Physics. An attractor for which the approach to the final set of physical properties is chaotic; The orbital point in the mathematical mapping of a dynamic system that is neither fixed nor oscillating, but rather spirals inward; an attractor for which the approach to its final point in phase space is chaotic; An attractor whose variables never repeat their values but always are found within a restricted range, a small area of state space; The first strange attractor was discovered by Edward Lorentz in 1962 while developing models for weather forecasting This discovery provided the foundation for the discipline we now call Chaos theory The solution to a system of equations which converges to a single point is called a finite attractor If the solution converges to a periodic orbit, it is a periodic attractor If neither case is true and the solution is a fully determined curve that has no recursion and is a fractal, it is a strange attractor More of an explanation will require some heavy duty math
strange attractors: plural form of strange attractor