Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One that attracts.
- noun Mathematics A value or set of values toward which variables in a dynamical system tend to evolve.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
attracter .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who, or that which, attracts.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun mathematics, physics A
set of points or states to which adynamical system evolves after a long enough time. That is, points that get close enough to the attractor remain close even if slightly disturbed.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an entertainer who attracts large audiences
- noun (physics) a point in the ideal multidimensional phase space that is used to describe a system toward which the system tends to evolve regardless of the starting conditions of the system
- noun a characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts
Etymologies
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Examples
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I actually think that the same hunger for authenticity that makes the internet a "strange attractor" is at works in politics, too.
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This pattern has developed into a state that conflict scholars label intractable and that mathematicians call an attractor: the Israel-Palestinian conflict has thus become an intractable attractor.
Peter T. Coleman, PhD: The Mathematics of Middle East Conflict and Peace PhD Peter T. Coleman 2011
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This pattern has developed into a state that conflict scholars label intractable and that mathematicians call an attractor: the Israel-Palestinian conflict has thus become an intractable attractor.
Peter T. Coleman, PhD: The Mathematics of Middle East Conflict and Peace PhD Peter T. Coleman 2011
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Classically, a dissipative chaotic system tends towards a strange attractor with a fractal structure; that is, the attractor exhibits substructure at all length scales.
Quantum Hyperion Sean 2008
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For instance, using a san jan worm as a lead or "attractor" pattern followed by an RS2 or some other small midge type nymph.
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For instance, using a san jan worm as a lead or "attractor" pattern followed by an RS2 or some other small midge type nymph.
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While it is critical that members of NGOs and community-based organizations do whatever possible to increase intercommunal positivity and decrease negativity and suffering, it may be best to do so in a manner divorced from the "peace process," so as to avoid the polarization that can result from falling prey to the politics of the attractor.
Peter T. Coleman, PhD: The Mathematics of Middle East Conflict and Peace PhD Peter T. Coleman 2011
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In other words, we are confronted with an intractable conflict attractor.
Peter T. Coleman, PhD: The Mathematics of Middle East Conflict and Peace PhD Peter T. Coleman 2011
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And even though they may change temporarily we may lose seven pounds on a crash diet, odds are they will soon return to their attractor.
Peter T. Coleman, PhD: The Mathematics of Middle East Conflict and Peace PhD Peter T. Coleman 2011
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And even though they may change temporarily we may lose seven pounds on a crash diet, odds are they will soon return to their attractor.
Peter T. Coleman, PhD: The Mathematics of Middle East Conflict and Peace PhD Peter T. Coleman 2011
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In dynamical systems, an attractor is a state things keep sliding back toward no matter where they start. LLMs work the same way.
22 Claude Clichés Ivo Velitchkov 2026
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