attractivity

Attractivity is the property or tendency to attract or draw toward something. In everyday language it can refer to social appeal or general attractiveness, but in scientific and technical contexts the term carries more specific meanings related to attraction as a physical or dynamical process.

In mathematics and dynamical systems, attractivity describes how a system evolves toward a target set or state. A set or equilibrium is attractive if trajectories starting near it converge to it as time goes to infinity. Local attractivity concerns convergence from nearby initial conditions, while global attractivity holds for a larger region. These notions are formalized with tools such as Lyapunov functions and LaSalle’s invariance principle, and they give rise to concepts like the domain of attraction or basin of attraction.

In physics and chemistry, attractivity commonly refers to attractive forces between entities, such as gravity or electrostatic forces, which can lead to binding between particles or molecules. The term is often used in descriptive discussions of interactions and bonding, rather than as a precise mathematical notion.

In economics, marketing, and policy analysis, attractivity (or attractiveness) denotes how appealing a location, market, product, or investment opportunity is to stakeholders. Assessments consider indicators such as growth potential, stability, regulatory environment, and expected returns. The use of attractivity in these fields emphasizes comparative desirability rather than a formal dynamical concept.

Overall, attractivity is a multifunctional term whose precise meaning depends on the disciplinary context, ranging from qualitative appeal to formal convergence properties in dynamical systems.