What is strange about strange attractors? First: they look strange. A multi-dimensional imaginary object is bound to look strange. Second: the motion on the strange attractors has sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Third: strange attractors reconcile contradictory effects: (a) they are attractors, which means that nearby trajectories converge on them; and (b) they exhibit sensitive dependence on initial conditions, which means that trajectories initially close together on the attractors diverge rapidly. Fourth: and this is the tricky bit – while strange attractors exist in an infinite
...more
