Cat Map
Arnold's cat map is a simple discrete system that stretches
and ``folds'' the trajectories in phase space, which is another
typical feature of chaotic processes. The phase space for this simple
system can be represented by a square, and the stretching and folding
process is more apparent if we placed a picture of a cat in the
square. One can then see the time evolution of the system by observing
how the cat gets stretched, cut up, and then placed back into the
square. From the figure below, we observe that typically, any
two points that are initially very close together quickly become
separated from each other after repeated applications of the map.
The above handiwork is courtesy of Leon "I really have nothing against cats" Poon
