Zbigniew nitecki biography of williams

In mathematics, the term dynamical systems refers to models which change in time according to their configuration moment-to-moment: for example, the velocities of planets in a solar system are ruled by gravitational forces, which in turn are determined by the relative positions of the planets; as another example, the net growth rates of different populations in an ecosystem are ruled by competition for space, food and other resources, which in turn is determined by the sizes of these populations at any moment.

This information loopthe components of the system change according to rules determined by the components themselvespresents a mathematical conundrum, formulated either as a system of differential equations or the iteration of some function or algorithm.

Certain classes of dynamical systems (in particular "linear" systems) can be understood explicitly using general methods, but numerous nonlinear examples present e