Feigenbaum Universality Constant

Period-doubling route to chaos and the universal constant δ ≈ 4.66920
δ = lim (rₙ₋₁ − rₙ₋₂)/(rₙ − rₙ₋₁) ≈ 4.66920160910299
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Zoom shows successive bifurcation intervals — ratio converges to δ
Computed δ (ratio)
4.66920
True Feigenbaum δ
Bifurcation r values

Why This Is Universal

Feigenbaum (1978) discovered that the ratio of successive period-doubling bifurcation intervals converges to δ ≈ 4.6692 for any unimodal map — logistic, sine, quadratic, or otherwise. This universality arises from renormalization group theory: near each bifurcation, the dynamics converge to a universal fixed-point function under the doubling operator. The constant α ≈ 2.5029 governs the self-similar scaling of the attractor's width. These constants appear in real physical systems: Rayleigh-Bénard convection, electronic circuits, and chemical oscillators all exhibit period-doubling cascades with ratio δ before becoming chaotic.