attractor

American  

[uh-trak-ter] / əˈtræk tər /

noun

1. a person or thing that attracts.

2. Physics. a state or behavior toward which a dynamic system tends to evolve, represented as a point or orbit in the system's phase space.

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attractor Scientific  

/ ə-trăk′tər /

1. A set of states of a dynamic physical system toward which that system tends to evolve, regardless of the starting conditions of the system.

2. ◆ A point attractor is an attractor consisting of a single state. For example, a marble rolling in a smooth, rounded bowl will always come to rest at the lowest point, in the bottom center of the bowl; the final state of position and motionlessness is a point attractor.

3. ◆ A periodic attractor is an attractor consisting of a finite or infinite set of states, where the evolution of the system results in moving cyclically through each state. The ideal orbit of a planet around a star is a periodic attractor, as are periodic oscillations. A periodic attractor is also called a limit-cycle.

4. ◆ A strange attractor is an attractor for which the evolution through the set of possible physical states is nonperiodic (chaotic), resulting in an evolution through a set of states defining a fractal set. Most real physical systems (including the actual orbits of planets) involve strange attractors.

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Etymology

Origin of attractor

First recorded in 1645–55

Example Sentences

Serra's predictions suggested that with a particular distribution of myosin, they could make a ring-shaped short-time attractor.

From Science Daily • May 28, 2024

The researchers also tested turpentine, a bear attractor, and the ticks despised it as well.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2023

To test the theory of continuous attractor networks, researchers needed to determine whether the grid cells always form a torus, no matter what environment the rat finds itself in.

From Scientific American • Sep. 26, 2022

Gravity, one of the four fundamental forces in the universe, is a one-way attractor — unlike its counterparts in magnetism, which can also repel.

From Salon • Apr. 26, 2022

Yes, we are racing through space with another motion, too, besides those of rotation and revolution, for our earth keeps up with its master attractor, the sun.

From The Children's Book of Stars by Mitton, G. E. (Geraldine Edith)