A reference to chaos mathematics, a field of study regarding complex systems in which the number of and interactions between variables make linear models and predictions impossible. Attractors, or basins of attraction, refer to the bounds of a system which can be known even when the specific outcomes within those bounds are unknowable.
In chaos theory, attractors are sets of numerical values toward which a system tends to evolve, regardless of the starting conditions of the system. These attractors represent the long-term behavior of a dynamical system (Open Civics)