The behaviour of a
linear autonomous system around a critical point is a
node if the following conditions are satisfied:
Each path converges to the critical point as
![](http://bis.babylon.com/?rt=GetFile&uri=!!ARV6FUJ2JP&type=0&index=652)
(or as
![](http://bis.babylon.com/?rt=GetFile&uri=!!ARV6FUJ2JP&type=0&index=1258)
). Furthermore, each path approaches the point asymptotically through a line.