PREDICTABILITY in chaotic systems (Limits to)
Charles François (2004). PREDICTABILITY in chaotic systems (Limits to), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 2611.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2611 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Methodology or model |
In strictly deterministic systems, as stated by P. DAVIES: “…a small input error implies a small output error in the predictive computation. …(While) errors accumulate with time… (they) grow only in proportion to the time (or perhaps a small power thereof…)”.
However, in a chaotic system “… a small starting difference between two (nearly) identical systems will rapidly grow. In fact, the hallmark of chaos is that the motions diverge exponentially fast” (1990, p.50).
In the same fashion, in any system with three of more initial independent conditions, sensibility to these initial conditions produces the same limits to predictability.