In the context of physical systems, dynamical systems are mathematical models that describe the time evolution of a system’s state, typically represented as points in a phase space governed by deterministic laws such as ordinary or partial differential equations, or discrete maps. Physical dynamical systems encode conservation laws, symmetries, and constraints arising from mechanics, electromagnetism, or other fundamental interactions. Their trajectories can exhibit fixed points, limit cycles, and chaotic attractors, with stability properties analyzed via linearization, Lyapunov exponents, and invariant manifolds. Dynamical systems theory provides a rigorous framework for predicting and characterizing the temporal behavior of physical systems across scales.
Some computers are easy to spot. Artificial, human-built computers like those found in smartphones and laptops are abstract dynamic systems with observable computational elements like input, output, energy cost, and logical ...
General Physics
Feb 26, 2026
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Nature has many rhythms: the seasons result from Earth's movement around the sun, the ticking of a pendulum clock results from the oscillation of its pendulum. These phenomena can be understood with very simple equations. ...
Quantum Physics
Sep 22, 2025
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Physicists at TU Dortmund University have periodically driven a time crystal and discovered a remarkable variety of nonlinear dynamic phenomena, ranging from perfect synchronization to chaotic behavior within a single semiconductor ...
Condensed Matter
Apr 2, 2025
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An Aston University researcher has conducted the first experimental demonstration of intricate and previously theorized behaviors in the fundamental patterns that govern oscillatory systems in nature and technology.
General Physics
Mar 24, 2025
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Pile up blocks until the tower collapses. But why does the tower always end up collapsing? Is it possible that it can be built ad infinitum? A study published in the International Journal of Solids and Structures explores ...
General Physics
Dec 17, 2024
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A team experimentally observed higher-order and fractional discrete time crystals (DTCs) in periodically driven Rydberg atomic dissipative systems. Their study was published in Nature Communications. The team was led by Prof. ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 2, 2024
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A new computational method can identify how cause-and-effect relationships ebb and flow over time in dynamic real-life systems such as the brain.
General Physics
Nov 12, 2024
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How do we measure chaos and why would we want to? Together, Penn engineers Dani S. Bassett, J. Peter Skirkanich Professor in Bioengineering and in Electrical and Systems Engineering, and postdoctoral researcher Kieran Murphy ...
General Physics
Jul 30, 2024
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Scientists all over the world use modeling approaches to understand complex natural systems such as climate systems or neuronal or biochemical networks. A team of researchers has now developed a new mathematical framework ...
General Physics
Jul 26, 2024
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A dissipative time crystal is a phase of matter characterized by periodic oscillations over time, while a system is dissipating energy. In contrast with conventional time crystals, which can also occur in closed systems with ...
