PREDATION AND GENERATION PROCESSES THROUGH A NEW REPRESENTATION OF THE CUSP CATASTROPHE

A new formulation of the cusp catastrophe is used to model the fundame ntal biological functions of predation and reproduction. This new repr esentation lies on the decomposition of the overall cusp potential in two component potentials individualising the conflicting pregnances. I t results in a more accurate and less problematic description than the original proposition by R. Thom, mostly due to the use of parameters with strong physical and evocative power. For instance, it gives a ver y suggestive account for such biologically significant processes as di gestion and assimilation, or pregnancy and delivery. Two couples of pa rameters are used in the new representation of the cusp: one defines t he exact shape of the conflicting attractors which symbolises genetic coding, the other controls the deformation of and interaction between the two attractors and represent hormonal effects. This new descriptio n strikingly echoes Heidegger's philosophical thought on ontological d ifference, by giving a representation of the distinct concepts of enti ty and Being. It thus precludes a previous criticism concerning the im possibility for catastrophic models to depict the entity level. Such a type of representation might be useful in translating syntactical-sem antic models of catastrophe theory into computer language.