A systematic and comprehensive introduction to the study of nonlinear dynamical systems, in both discrete and continuous time, for nonmathematical students and researchers working in applied fields. An understanding of linear systems and the classical theory of stability are essential although basic reviews of the relevant material are provided. Further chapters are devoted to the stability of invariant sets, bifurcation theory, chaotic dynamics and the transition to chaos. In the final two chapters the authors approach the subject from a measure-theoretical point of view and compare results to those given for the geometrical or topological approach of the first eight chapters. Includes about one hundred exercises. A Windows-compatible software programme called DMC, provided free of charge through a website dedicated to the book, allows readers to perform numerical and graphical analysis of dynamical systems. Also available on the website are computer exercises and solutions to selected book exercises. See www.cambridge.org/economics/resources

This article describes a method — called here "the method of Stretching Along the Paths" (SAP) — to prove the existence of chaotic sets in discrete-time dynamical systems. The method of SAP, although mathematically rigorous, is based on some elementary geometrical considerations and is relatively easy to apply to models arising in applications. The paper provides a description of the basic mathematical ideas behind the method, as well as three applications to economic models. Incidentally, the paper also discusses some questions concerning the definition of chaos and some problems arising from economic models in which the dynamics are defined only implicitly.

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