chaos theory

[alchemist]

what is the chaos theory all about??

[mathman]

Chaos! To be more specific, processes where very small changes in input give wildly different outputs. Weather forecasting more than a day or so in advance is a typical example.

[FZ+]

For clarification, deterministic systems with great sensitivity in initial conditions. Random effects don't count. Mathematically defined as a positive lyapunov exponent - showing an exponential divergence in initial conditions. Philosophically significant as a way complex effects may be explained in terms of simple ones.

This doesn't really belong here. Chaos is pretty mainstream these days.

[franznietzsche]

try finding Gleick's book, its very interesting stuff, nothing too math heavy, but gives a good introduction to what chaos theory is about and how it developed.