A dynamical model for hierarchy and modular organization: The trajectories en route to the attractor at the transition to chaos

Abstract

We show that the full features of the dynamics towards the Feigenbaum attractor, present in all low-dimensional maps with a unimodal leading component, form a hierarchical construction with modular organization that leads to a clear-cut emergent property. This well-known nonlinear model system combines a simple and precise definition, an intricate nested hierarchical dynamical structure, and emergence of a power-law dynamical property absent in the exponential-law that governs the dynamics within the modules. This classic nonlinear system is put forward as a working example for complex collective behavior.