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ergodicity

ergodicity

9.9
A property of a system whose long-term behaviour does not depend on its starting state and settles into one pattern
  • noun
  • /ˌɜrɡəˈdɪsɪti/
  • Specialized
: ergodicidad
  • By applying the concept of ergodicity, scientists can predict the long-term behavior of stochastic processes without considering their initial states.

Examples

  • This similarity would imply that the effects of space and time on diversity are interchangeable, and thus recalls the property of ergodicity in mathematics.

    Academic text (2010)
  • OK, that's that's another way of looking at what ergodicity means.

  • In studying complex systems, researchers often explore the principle of ergodicity to understand how past events do not affect the long-term outcome.

  • The theory of ergodicity suggests that, regardless of where a particle starts, its distribution will stabilize over time.

Surface Forms

ergodicity singular
ergodicities plural

Morphology

ergodicity = ergodic (transparent) = ergodic + ity

Standard nominalization of the adjective 'ergodic' with '-ity'; a learner who knows 'ergodic' can infer the noun denotes the state or property.

Etymology

Ergodicity comes from Greek roots ergon 'work' and hodos 'path'. A helpful way to remember it is 'work along a path': in an ergodic system every path over time shows the same behaviour, so the long-term result does not depend on the starting point.