Deterministic Chaos

The Logistic Map

The graph of the logistic map is a parabola opening downward, and passing through the points (0, 0) and (1, 0).
Note the highest point of the graph occurs at xn = 1/2, and is
L(1/2) = s⋅(1/2)⋅(1 - 1/2) = s/4.
For the same reason we wanted to keep the tent map inside the unit square, we keep the logistic map similarly confined. Consequently, the range of s-values is
0 ≤ s ≤ 4.
We shall see that as s changes within this range, the orbit x0, x1 = L(x0), x2 = L(x1), ... undergoes a remarkably rich range of behaviors, some details of which are not yet understood despite years of study by very smart people.
This is a sobering lesson in humility for mathematicians: that there is something we do not understand about parabolas.

Return to the Logistic Map.