Question

Types of constraints on dynamical systems

Answer 1

In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a function describes the time dependence of a point in a geometrical space. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of clock pendulum, the flow of water in a pipe, and the number of fish each springtime in a lake.

At any given time, a dynamical system has a state given by a tuple of real numbers that can be represented by a point in an appropriate state . The evolution rule of the dynamical system is a function that describes what future states follow from the current state. Often the function is deterministic, that is, for a given time interval only one future state follows from the current state. However, some systems are stochastic, in that random events also affect the evolution of the state variables.

In physics, a dynamical system is described as a "particle or ensemble of particles whose state varies over time and thus obeys differential equations involving time derivatives." In order to make a prediction about the system’s future behavior, an analytical solution of such equations or their integration over time through computer simulation is realized.