perturbers
Agents of disturbance
Perturbers are things or people that perturb—that cause disturbance, disruption, or unease.
The term appears most often in scientific contexts, where a perturber is something that disrupts an otherwise stable system: The moon acts as a gravitational perturber on Earth's orbit.
More broadly, anyone who unsettles or agitates can be called a perturber: He was a perturber of comfortable assumptions.
Those causing problems deliberately
- instigatorsThose who initiate trouble
- provocateursThose who incite discord
- disruptorsThose who destabilize systems
- destabilizersAgents causing instability
inciters · rabble-rousers · firebrands · antagonists · meddlers · interferers · obstructors · saboteurs
Those who unsettle
- agitatorsThose who incite disturbance
- worriersChronically anxious people
- anxietiesPersistent mental unease
- stressorsAgents causing tension
triggers · irritants · annoyances · provocations · upsetters · alarming · rattlers · unnervers
Those who destabilize systems
- destabilizersAgents causing instability
- anomaliesDepartures from expected patterns
- glitchesMinor system malfunctions
- malfunctionsFailures to operate correctly
bugs · errors · faults · corruptions · interferences · distortions · irregularities · deviations
Changeable elements in equations
- factorsContributors to a result
- stimuliAgents evoking responses
- forcesCauses of motion
- influencesPowers that shape behavior
agents · catalysts · inputs · parameters · disturbances · fluctuations · oscillations · noise
troublemakers
Those causing problems deliberately
- instigatorsThose who initiate trouble
- provocateursThose who incite discord
- disruptorsThose who destabilize systems
destabilizers · inciters · rabble-rousers · firebrands · antagonists · meddlers · interferers · obstructors · saboteurs · spoilers
disturbers
Those who unsettle
- agitatorsThose who incite disturbance
- worriersChronically anxious people
- anxietiesPersistent mental unease
stressors · triggers · irritants · annoyances · provocations · upsetters · alarming · rattlers · unnervers · dismayers
disruptors
Those who destabilize systems
- destabilizersAgents causing instability
- anomaliesDepartures from expected patterns
- glitchesMinor system malfunctions
malfunctions · bugs · errors · faults · corruptions · interferences · distortions · irregularities · deviations · outliers
variables
Changeable elements in equations
influences · agents · catalysts · inputs · parameters · disturbances · fluctuations · oscillations · noise · interference
perturbersstabilizers
Mechanisms ensuring steadiness
regulators · balancers · maintainers · moderators · dampeners
perturberssoothers
Things providing comfort
calmers · pacifiers · comforters · reassurers · tranquilizers