Physics · Primitives
Attractor
A state-space region dynamics pull toward — fixed points, limit cycles, or chaotic attractors
Definition
Mechanism
A region of a dynamical system's state space that trajectories converge toward from a surrounding basin of initial conditions. Once a trajectory enters the basin of attraction, the system's dynamics pull it toward the attractor and confine it thereafter (absent external perturbation). Attractors may be point-like (fixed points — a stable Equilibrium), periodic (limit cycles), or strange (chaotic — bounded but non-repeating). Substrate property: every dissipative dynamical system has attractors; the structure of attractors and their basins is what the system's dynamics is. Downstream patterns use attractor-and-basin reasoning to predict where coordination processes will settle and which initial conditions route to which outcome.
Invariants
- Convergence: trajectories starting in the basin of attraction approach the attractor in the limit.
- Confinement: trajectories that enter the attractor remain within it absent external perturbation.
- Basin: each attractor has an associated basin of attraction; disjoint attractors partition the set of initial conditions whose trajectories converge.
Risks
Failure modes
None stated.
Relationships
Builds on
References
A dynamical system's stationary state — where the dynamics leave it unchanged
Nothing in this library builds on this pattern yet.
Reference