New Developments in Stirring and Chaos: Possible Role in Ocean Sciences,
Abstract
The most intuitively understandable definition of chaos is magnification of small errors and the impossibility of making predictions for long times. This statement--so often repeated--has produced the impression that chaotic systems cannot be predicted at all. Strictly speaking this is far from being true. What cannot be predicted is the detailed evolution of a specific initial condition. The behavior of the system at large--that of a multitude of initial conditions--may be quite robust, and this is, in fact, what matters in many situations of practical interest. As we shall see, a particulary important example is provided by mixing of fluids. The objective of this article is to provide a brief overview of some of our past work on mixing and chaotic advection including a few remarks not made before. However, in order to accomplish this objective and setting things in perspective, a number of remarks pertaining to general aspects of chaos theory will be made. As there are a large number of references for this materials, no review is attempted. The second part of the presentation involves issues in chaotic advection
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADP008743
Entities
People
- Julio M. Ottino
Organizations
- Northwestern University