
144 n Designing Complex Systems
to or less than the inverse of the interval between values, then two adjacent values
are increasingly likely to be equal. e effect of this is best demonstrated by a very
simple example: Let x be a stochastic variable that is equally likely to have a value
anywhere in the range 0 – 1, and let the probability of x changing its value in a
unit time interval equal λ. Start out with x = 0.5, and step through time in unit
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
1.00
119753113151719
Time Steps
Amplitude
0.0000
0.0500
0.1000
0.1500
0.2000
0.2500
0.3000
0.3500
Standard Deviation
Figure 8.6 Mean (heavy line) and standard deviation ...