Read more
The idea of a 'complex system' remains, despite nebulous, despite persistent attempts at classification and characterization. In its three-year history, the Complex Systems Summer School had developed as a leading force in complexity education and research and contributed in a lasting way to the search for a true definition of a complex system.
List of contents
Section 1: Courses 1. Modeling Complex Systems: Stochastic Processes, Stochastic Differential Equations, and Fokker-Planck Equations 2. Complexity in Fluids 3. Pattern Formation in Chemical Systems: Roles of Open Reactors 4. Experimental Analysis of Disordered Systems 5. Theory and Applications of Information-Based Complexity 6. Some Learning Tasks from a Control Perspective 7. Moving a Human or Robot Arm with Many Degrees of Freedom: Issues and Ideas 8. Control of Tongue Movement Dynamics 9. Models of Somatotopic Map Organization 10. Sex and Evolution Section 2: Seminars 11. Dynamics of Neural Excitability 12. Linking Structure and Function: Information Processing in the Brain 13. Physiological Studies in Silico 14. Nonlinear Dynamics of Neural Delayed Feedback 15. Functional Self-Organization in Complex Systems 16. Random Grammers: A New Class of Models for Functional Integration and Transformation in the Biological, Neural, and Social Sciences 17. Forecasting Chaotic Computational Ecosystems 18. Singularities for Complex Hyperbolic Equations Section 3: Student Contributions 19. An Overview of the Minimum Description Length Principle 20. Equations of Motion from Data with Hidden Variables 21. Spectral Entropy and Self-Organization 22. Asynchronous Parallel Simulated Annealing 23. Dynamics of a Trapped Ion Driven by Stochastic Optical Processes 24. Undecidability in an Adaptive System 25. Bifurcations and Chaos in a Paradigm Equation for Delayed Mixed Feedback 26. Asymptotic Periodicity in One-Dimensional Maps 27. Theme and Variations: Spin Glasses, Neural Networks, and Prebiotic Evolution
About the author
Lynn Nadel is head of the Department of Psychology, professor of psychology, research cognitive scientist, and deputy director of the centre for the Study of Complex Systems, all at the University of Arizona. Dr. Nadel, with coeditor Dr. Stein, organized the 1993 Summer School on Complex Systems. Daniel L. Stein is head of the Department of Physics and professor of Physics at the University of Arizona and external associate professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Dr. Stein organized the 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993 Summer Schools on Complex Systems, is a trustee for the Aspen centre for Physics, is on the Science Board at the Santa Fe Institute, and was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. Lynn Nadel is head of the Department of Psychology, professor of psychology, research cognitive scientist, and deputy director of the centre for the Study of Complex Systems, all at the University of Arizona. Dr. Nadel, with coeditor Dr. Stein, organized the 1993 Summer School on Complex Systems. Daniel L. Stein is head of the Department of Physics and professor of Physics at the University of Arizona and external associate professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Dr. Stein organized the 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993 Summer Schools on Complex Systems, is a trustee for the Aspen centre for Physics, is on the Science Board at the Santa Fe Institute, and was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow.
Summary
This book reflects the topics discussed in the 1990 Complex Systems Summer School, covering both the nature and substance of the lectures and seminars that deal with experimental results and numerical simulations on sand piles, avalanches, and self-organized criticality.
