Chaos theoryChaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of scientific study and branch of mathematics focused on underlying patterns and deterministic laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, and were once thought to have completely random states of disorder and irregularities. Chaos theory states that within the apparent randomness of chaotic complex systems, there are underlying patterns, interconnection, constant feedback loops, repetition, self-similarity, fractals, and self-organization.
Dynamical systems theoryDynamical systems theory is an area of mathematics used to describe the behavior of complex dynamical systems, usually by employing differential equations or difference equations. When differential equations are employed, the theory is called continuous dynamical systems. From a physical point of view, continuous dynamical systems is a generalization of classical mechanics, a generalization where the equations of motion are postulated directly and are not constrained to be Euler–Lagrange equations of a least action principle.
Dynamical systemIn mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a function describes the time dependence of a point in an ambient space, such as in a parametric curve. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a clock pendulum, the flow of water in a pipe, the random motion of particles in the air, and the number of fish each springtime in a lake. The most general definition unifies several concepts in mathematics such as ordinary differential equations and ergodic theory by allowing different choices of the space and how time is measured.
Transfer operatorIn mathematics, the transfer operator encodes information about an iterated map and is frequently used to study the behavior of dynamical systems, statistical mechanics, quantum chaos and fractals. In all usual cases, the largest eigenvalue is 1, and the corresponding eigenvector is the invariant measure of the system. The transfer operator is sometimes called the Ruelle operator, after David Ruelle, or the Perron–Frobenius operator or Ruelle–Perron–Frobenius operator, in reference to the applicability of the Perron–Frobenius theorem to the determination of the eigenvalues of the operator.
Composition operatorIn mathematics, the composition operator with symbol is a linear operator defined by the rule where denotes function composition. The study of composition operators is covered by AMS category 47B33. In physics, and especially the area of dynamical systems, the composition operator is usually referred to as the Koopman operator (and its wild surge in popularity is sometimes jokingly called "Koopmania"), named after Bernard Koopman. It is the left-adjoint of the transfer operator of Frobenius–Perron.
Flow (mathematics)In mathematics, a flow formalizes the idea of the motion of particles in a fluid. Flows are ubiquitous in science, including engineering and physics. The notion of flow is basic to the study of ordinary differential equations. Informally, a flow may be viewed as a continuous motion of points over time. More formally, a flow is a group action of the real numbers on a set. The idea of a vector flow, that is, the flow determined by a vector field, occurs in the areas of differential topology, Riemannian geometry and Lie groups.
