chaos theory, in mathematics, physics, and other fields, a set of ideas that attempts to reveal structure in aperiodic, unpredictable dynamic systems such as cloud formation or the fluctuation of biological populations. Although chaotic systems obey certain rules that can be described by mathematical equations, chaos theory shows the difficulty of predicting their long-range behavior. In the last half of the 20th cent., theorists in various scientific disciplines began to believe that the type of linear analysis used in classical applied mathematics presumes an orderly periodicity that rarely occurs in nature; in the quest to discover regularities, disorder had been ignored. Thus, chaos theorists have set about constructing deterministic, nonlinear dynamic models that elucidate irregular, unpredictable behavior (see nonlinear dynamics nonlinear dynamics, study of systems governed by equations in which a small change in one variable can induce a large systematic change; the discipline is more popularly known as chaos (see chaos theory ).
..... Click the link for more information. ). Some of the early investigators of chaos were the American physicist Mitchell Feigenbaum; the Polish-born mathematician and inventor of fractals (see fractal geometry fractal geometry, branch of mathematics concerned with irregular patterns made of parts that are in some way similar to the whole, e.g., twigs and tree branches, a property called self-similarity or self-symmetry.
..... Click the link for more information. ) Benoit Mandelbrot Mandelbrot, Benoit B. (bənwä` măn`dəlbrō', Fr. mäNdĕlbrô`), 1924–, French mathematician, b.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the American mathematician James Yorke, who popularized the term "chaos"; and the American meteorologist Edward Lorenz.

Bibliography

See J. Gleick, Chaos: Making a New Science (1987); I. Stewart, Does God Play Dice?: The Mathematics of Chaos (1989); A. A. Tsonis, Chaos: From Theory to Applications (1992); D. N. Chorafas, Chaos Theory in the Financial Markets (1994).

chaos theory

Mathematical theory that describes chaotic behavior in a complex system. Applications include the study of turbulent flow in fluids, irregularities in biological systems, population dynamics, chemical reactions, plasma physics, meteorology, the motions of groups and clusters of stars, transportation dynamics, and many other fields.

chaos theory (redirected from Deterministic chaos)

Bibliography

chaos theory

chaos theory
(redirected from Deterministic chaos)