HELIX
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1512 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
The trajectory in time of a cyclical process.
The helix can be cylindrical, or conical.
A cylindrical trajectory corresponds to dynamic stability of the function or system thus modelized. The conical helix (i.e. the spiral) when opening, corresponds to an expansive process, that may eventually end up in a runaway event. The closing helix indicates a trend toward asymptotic stability.
Ch. LAVILLE showed that helices are brachystochronic trajectories in a vortex, i.e.: “… the trajectory corresponding to the highest velocity or the least energetic expense… joining the starting point and the terminal one” (1950, p.51).
This explains the relative predominance of helicoidal movements and forms in nature, in relation with the least possible production level of entropy in dynamically stable systems.
H.C. SABELLI states that the helix is a representation of dialectic movement: “… because evolution has two components: 1) a reversible change in which thesis and antithesis symmetrically negate each other and the synthesis represents a return to the thesis, following its definition as a negation of the negation; and 2) a non-reversible process for which all three stages represent a movement in the same direction” (1994, p.353).
See also
Vortex