Chaos, Strange Attractors, and Fractal Basin Boundaries in Nonlinear Dynamics

Basic developments in the field of chaotic dynamics of dissipative systems are reviewed, Topics covered include strange attractors, how chaos comes about with variation of a system parameter, universality, fractal basin boundaries and their effect on predictability, and applications to physical systems.

Abstract

Recently research has shown that many simple nonlinear deterministic systems can behave in an apparently unpredictable and chaotic manner. This realization has broad implications for many fields of science. Basic developments in the field of chaotic dynamics of dissipative systems are reviewed in this article. Topics covered include strange attractors, how chaos comes about with variation of a system parameter, universality, fractal basin boundaries and their effect on predictability, and applications to physical systems.