A general feedback mechanism unifying stochasticity, long transients, and resilience

Abstract

Stochasticity in complex systems is commonly treated either as external noise added to deterministic dynamics or as an effective stochastic description of deterministic chaos. A framework in which stochastic dynamics arise endogenously from deterministic chaos and subsequently feed back on the deterministic dynamics, thereby fundamentally reshaping system dynamics, remains rare. Here, we develop such a framework. Through the interaction between deterministic and stochastic dynamics, alternative stable states, critical transitions, adaptive capacity, stochasticity, and resilience become dynamically interconnected within a single model. Furthermore, the framework establishes a new mechanism of long transients, driven by two key factors: (i) time-scale separation and (ii) time-delay-induced cancellation. Stochasticity plays a dual stabilizing-destabilizing role in long transients: it promotes their persistence while also facilitating their eventual escape and collapse. This dual role allows resilience to be quantified dynamically through escape and stochastic recapture dynamics. Finally, we establish the generality of the mechanism mathematically and numerically across a broad class of one-dimensional nonlinear systems, suggesting that it reflects a general dynamical principle.