SYSTEM (Dissipative)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3353 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
Any system that dissipates energy, be it or not able to compensate its losses.
The structurating dissipation concept was introduced as early as 1908 by the French physicist H. BÉNARD, but was retrieved from oblivion by I. PRIGOGINE, in relation to his study of thermodynamics of systems far-from-equilibrium. (starting 1947).
In opposition to conservative systems, the dissipative one is dependent on time and thus irreversible and submitted to an attractor, as it dissipates energy.
P. BERGE, Y. POMEAU and Ch. VIDAL write: “In some cases… there exits a function of the dynamical variables, the Lyapunov function, which is positive and decreasing in a monotonic way with time (which is a proof of irreversibility)”. However the Lyapunov function does not always exist. “A dissipative system may have a evolution regime quite more complicated than a simple decrease, when the dynamics include at the same time the effects of the dampening and a mechanism of maintenance of movement which fights this dampening” (1984, p.23).
In such cases, the attractor may become fractal.