Complexity Explorer Santa Few Institute

Limit points are points in the phase space or state space of a system. There are three kinds of limit points: attractors, repellers, and saddle points. A system will tend toward an attractor, and away from a repeller, similar to the way in which a ball rolling across a smooth landscape will roll toward a basin and away from a hill. A saddle point is so-named because it resembles an equestrian saddle. It therefore functions as an attractor to systems originating in "higher" regions, and as a repeller to systems originating from "lower" regions.