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Attractor

As explained in Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions

A state or limited set of states in a system's state space toward which the system repeatedly returns.

An attractor is a limited set of states in a system’s state space to which the system repeatedly returns. Different stressors can push a system toward the same attractor, including unlikely stressors that probability-based analysis might dismiss. section 12.1.2

Use attractors within stressor analysis:

  • Identify potential stressors without ranking them by probability. section 12.1.2
  • Assess how each stressor affects the architecture, determine detection methods, and define mitigations. section 12.1.2
  • Begin with many candidate stressors, or fully define one and let related stressors emerge during analysis. section 12.1.2

BigScreen scenario

Use the BigScreen scenario, involving widespread adoption of advanced virtual-reality systems, to ask which unexpected events could drive the system toward recurring states. section 12.1.2

How Collaborative Software Design: How to facilitate domain modeling decisions covers it

How deep it goes
Defines recurring states and links them to stressor analysis, while stopping short of developing the underlying theory beyond noting Kaufmann networks.
Examples
Uses a BigScreen advanced-VR scenario and collaborative stressor-analysis alternatives to ground the concept.
What you can do after
Diagnose architectural effects by identifying stressors, detecting their impact, and planning mitigations.
How it connects
Connects attractors with stressors, state space, software architecture, and residuality theory.
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