An attractor is a mathematical object that can drive the evolution of a system towards a particular state. It is a point or set in a dynamical system that, if time-evolving, never leaves its neighbourhood and is asymptotically approached. Attractors have many applications, from chaos theory to economics, from theoretical physics to cognitive science. These systems tend to be nonlinear, though linear dynamical systems can also exhibit attractors. Attractors are studied through a variety of techniques such as fixed point analysis, bifurcation, and stability analysis.

See also: emergence, evolutionary computing, antifragile, prigogine