RE: chaos and uncertainty (was seti@home is SORTA WORKING)

Rob Harris Cen-IT (Rob.Harris@bournemouth.gov.uk)
Fri, 16 Jul 1999 10:01:33 +0100

> [Good quick summary of uncertainty with a quick brush of entropy]
> > So the precise initial conditions needed to make a prediction cannot be
> > obtained, given the uncertainty principle.
>
> The sensitivity of a system to initial conditions is expressed by the
> Lyapunov exponent. You can look at it (backwards) as a way of saying how
> finely you have to measure initial conditions to predict the state of the
> system at some future time. Even in "simple" systems like a driven
> pendulum,
> the divergence can be dramatic, and you can say that there is a time
> horizon
> T beyond which you would have needed subatomic precision at time 0 to
> predict
> the state of motion.
>
> Basically, we're not living in Euclidean space...
>
I fully understand this, cheers.....but, as I said to Ron Kean, my problem was with the whole idea of a universally applicable uncertainty threshold, which (I perceived) was presented as unbreakable - no matter what measurement and tracking technology (even subatomic) was implemented.

Rob.

P.S. Euclidean Space ?



This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.

This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses.

www.bournemouth.gov.uk