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The Butterfly Effect and the passage of time

Authors: Anda Chiș, Andreea Coroi and Miriam Mercuția

Supervisors: Teacher Liliana Negrilă, Teacher Sergiu Duma

„Moise Nicoară” National College Arad, Romania

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9.9991�=�10

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Time and Chaos

  • „ Chaos: When the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future. ”

Edward Lorenz

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Short history

In 1961, Edward Lorenz used a numerical computer model to run a weather prediction.

Lorenz was modeling the weather with 12 differential equations.

Small difference of the input: 0.506 instead of 0.506127 led to extreme differences of the output.

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Short history

In 1972, Philip Merilees called it “Butterfly effect” from the metaphorical example given by Lorenz:

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  • The idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado in another location.

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  • If the butterfly did not flap its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different

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The Lorenz System

  • Sensitive dependence on initial conditions

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How well can we predict the future?

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Other applications

  • Meteorology
  • Satellite trajectories
  • Arts and geometry
  • Climatic change observations
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Pure mathematics
  • Computing
  • Playing games

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Conclusion

  • Butterfly effect is related to our lives.

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  • It can be seen in a plethora of different areas.

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Bibliography

1987 Chaos: Making a New Science, Viking Penguin (ISBN 0670811785); revised edition 2008 (ISBN 0143113453)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDek6cYijxI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyt8kz3iNCA

https://www.slideshare.net/julieadamen/the-butterfly-effect

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Thank you for your attention!