A phase portrait is a plot of multiple phase curves corresponding to different initial conditions in the same phase plane (Tabor 1989, p. 14). Phase portraits for a simple harmonic oscillator

(1)

and pendulum

(2)

are illustrated above.

Tabor, M. Chaos and Integrability in Nonlinear Dynamics: An Introduction. New York: Wiley, 1989.

CITE THIS AS:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Phase Portrait." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PhasePortrait.html