YOU CAN EXPLORE the bifurcation diagram with the applet below. Click your mouse button and drag to select a region. When you let go the mouse button you'll zoom in on your selected region. The "zoom out" button let's you, er, zoom out. It takes a few seconds to draw a graph, so watch the status line at the bottom of your browser for a progress indicator.

Your browser cannot show the Java applet that should be here. If it did, you'd be able to select areas on the bifurcation graph and zoom in and out.

So a simple little equation leads to messy, complicated behaviours (in this case, of fish populations).

And that's about all I've got to tell you about chaos. Now try searching the web for "bifurcation" or "logistic difference equation" or "chaos" or "ecology" for more information.


Contact Richard Dallaway