CYCLE (Limit) 2)
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A closed cycle characterized by the periodic repetition of given trajectories in a dynamically stable system.
Limit cycles were first described by H. POINCARÉ and are now known better known as cyclical attractors.
J. CRUTCHFIELD et al state that: "A limit cycle describes stable oscillations, such as the motion of a pendulum clock and the beating of a heart" (1989, p.42).
A stable limit cycle corresponds to a domain of attraction and, in topological models, to a basin.
A trajectory or system may leap out of its limit cycle (switching) under the impact of some strong perturbation. A recent example has been the destruction of comet SHUMAKER – LEVY 9, whose orbit was heavily perturbed by Jupiter.
Categories
- 1) General information
- 2) Methodology or model
- 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
- 4) Human sciences
- 5) Discipline oriented
Publisher
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).
To cite this page, please use the following information:
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]
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