This explorable illustrates the structure and beauty of strange attractors of two-dimensional discrete maps. These maps generate sequences of pairs of number \((x_n,y_n)\) where the index \(n=0,1,2,...\) denotes the step of the iteration process that starts at the point \((x_0,y_0)\). The map is defined by two functions \(f(x,y)\) and \(g(x,y)\) that determine the point \((x_{n+1},y_{n+1})\) given \((x_{n},y_{n})\):

This explorable illustrates the beautiful dynamical features of the double pendulum, a famous idealized nonlinear mechanical system that exhibits deterministic chaos. The double pendulum is essentially two simple pendula joined by a bearing. It's a classic complex system in which a simple setup generates rich and seemingly unpredictable behavior. The only force that is acting on it is gravity. There's no friction.

In this explorable you can investigate the dynamics of a famous two-dimensional, time discrete map, known as the standard or Chirikov–Taylor map, one of the most famous simple systems that exhibits determinstic chaos.