Is Chaos Defined? An Exploration

[Mk]

Is there a line between chaotic and not chaotic?

 

[HallsofIvy]

Yes, but it is fractal!

 

[Mk]

Yes, but it is fractal!

That would mean?

 

[KrazyIBKid]

i think he means it is a moot point, or that there is such a fine line that it is fractional*(which is what i think he meant to say)

HallsofIVY where is annandale VA anyways?.. must be a small town like dinwiddy but I am southeastern in Chesapeake

 

[turin]

I think he was making a pun.

 

[Gza]

a pun.

a play on words.

 

[Njorl]

The line between chaotic and non-chaotic exists, but is not absolute.

If the evolution of the state of a system can be predicted from its initial conditions, it is not chaotic. If it can't be predicted it is chaotic.

Is weather chaotic? If you want to predict it for the next month, it certainly is. If you want to predict it for the next 5 seconds, it is not.

Asking if something is chaotic is much like asking if something is heavy. Yes, there is a line between heavy and light, but where that line is drawn is situational.

Njorl

 

[HallsofIvy]

A "fractal" is a set having fractional dimension. Yes, it was a play on words but does have a certain meaning. "Chaotic" mechanics leads to fractal sets- the "attracting sets" are fractal.

Annandale, Va, is a suburb of Washington, D. C. near Alexandria.

 

[Mk]

Thank you, HallsofIvy.

 

[Gokul43201]

Is this not the difference between dynamical systems that are nonlinear and those that are linear ?

 

[somy]

sorry ;
but what is the story?!
I mean what does the first question mean?!