Butterfly Effect
Due to nonlinearities in weather processes, a butterfly flapping its wings in Tahiti can, in theory, produce a tornado in Kansas. This strong dependence of outcomes on very slightly differing initial conditions is a hallmark of the mathematical behavior known as chaos.
See also
Butterfly Catastrophe, Butterfly Curve, Butterfly Function, Butterfly Graph, Butterfly Lemma, Butterfly Polyiamond, Butterfly Theorem, Chaos, Lorenz AttractorExplore with Wolfram|Alpha
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References
Gleick, J. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin Books, 1988.Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha
Butterfly EffectCite this as:
Weisstein, Eric W. "Butterfly Effect." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ButterflyEffect.html