CRITICAL STATE
Charles François (2004). CRITICAL STATE, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 762.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 762 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
A metastable state in a composite system such as a small perturbation may (or not) induce a giant fluctuation or runaway event.
After any perturbation (strong or weak), a composite system tends to return its critical state, which is characterized by fluctuations commanded by a flicker noise such as small fluctuations are quite frequent and readily predictable, while giant ones are rare and quite unpredictable.
Good examples are the small fluctuations in stock markets as opposed to the great crashes, or the small quakes as opposed to great destructive seisms.