Robert Gilmore, Drexel

Chaos: What have we learned?

 
 

Analysis of experimental data from many physical systems (lasers, chemical reactions, electrical circuits, vibrating strings) has led to a deeper understanding of low-dimensional strange attractors and their perestroikas.  They can now be classified.  The classification is topological, with four levels of structure.  Each is discrete.  The signatures that identify these levels can be and have been extracted from experimental data.  These advances have raised additional questions that require new mathematics for their resolution.