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dynamical system

dynamical system

1 8.8
A system where a rule tells how something, like a pendulum, changes over time
  • noun
  • /ˌdaɪnæmɪkəl ˈsɪstəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sistema dinámico
  • A dynamical system can be visualized as the trajectory of a point moving within a defined space over time.
  • nonlinear dynamical systems
  • dynamical systems theory

We could solve dynamical systems and see how that works.

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Examples

  • Something similar is happening in areas of chemistry, meteorology, and ecology, where the mathematics of dynamical systems has given deep new insights into such diverse phenomena as oscillating chemical reactions, the onset of turbulence, and population dynamics.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Organisms are not finite machines in the common sense; they are dynamical systems with an infinite number of possible states.

    Blog text (28)
  • If you think of a of a dynamical system, you think of a system where a path is going on in time.

  • We could solve dynamical systems and see how that works.

  • And then there is the dynamical system of the contents that appear and disappear within that system.

  • My solution is to remember that the dynamical system producing speech is actually much more than just the articulators.

    Blog text (16)
  • Ganguli's research has led to a deeper scientific understanding of dynamical systems and has significantly contributed to their flight safety.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Braids as time histories are useful in the study of dynamical systems.

    Academic text (1996)
  • I see evolution as the mathematically inevitable result of the workings of a fairly straightforward dynamical system.

    Blog text (3)
  • The fractional dynamical method can more truly reveal the internal structure and dynamical behaviors of a dynamical system, and it is closer to the natural phenomena.

    Academic text (2018)

Surface Forms

Morphology

dynamical + system

The phrase combines 'dynamical' (relating to change, activity, or motion) and 'system' (a set of interacting parts), so a B1 learner who knows both words will likely infer it means a system that changes or evolves over time. However, the term has a specific technical meaning in mathematics/physics (time-dependent behavior described by functions/differential equations) that goes beyond everyday compositional inference, so it is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Dynamical system comes from combining dynamical (about movement or change) and system (a group of parts that work together). Think of a clock or a ball rolling in a bowl: the phrase describes 'how the position of something changes over time', so it now means a set of parts plus the rules that tell how they move or change.