catastrophe theory 
noun [mass noun]
A branch of mathematics concerned with systems displaying abrupt discontinuous change.René Thom is known for his development of catastrophe theory, a mathematical treatment of continuous action producing a discontinuous result....
- Just imagine what he would do now with concepts like the Gödel Number, the catastrophe theory or the Mandelbrot Set.
- Thus, a number of psychological and social processes have been modeled using complex dynamical systems theories - such as Prigogine's dissipative systems, Rene Thom's catastrophe theory, and chaos theory in general.