Phase Space, a study of chaos
A collaboration with Jill Naiman and Rachel Strickler
Multi-Media
11'x11'
Phase Space is a study of the nature of chaotic systems. A double pendulum-a pendulum mounted onto the bottom of another pendulum-is a system that swiftly becomes unpredictable, yielding a wide variety of exciting and unpredictable movements. This pendulum, which can swing more than ten feet off the ground, is a mesmerizing and imposing object. To give light to some aspects of this chaotic system, a display next to the pendulum produces 'drawings' of various physical quantities of the pendulum's movement.
When a chaotic system is mapped in a six-dimensional space (also known as phase space: three spatial dimensions and a corresponding velocity to each), it becomes possible to take a surface of section from this phase space. A surface of section plots position versus velocity, and can be used to display both deterministic and chaotic systems. When using a surface of section to understand a chaotic system, the visual result is a somewhat ordered plot. This order seems to come out of nowhere, considering that the system it is modeling is unpredictable; yet this reveals a deeper nature of the chaotic system.
The pendulum consists of steel pipe bent into rings and put on ball bearings. Two sensors send back its position along with a timestamp to a computer. That information is then processed to display a number of different physical quantities chosen by the viewer.
Produced through the Art and Physics Research Laboratory at UCSC
