| Description |
xiii, 212 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [199]-205) and index. |
| Contents |
Complexity and criticality. The laws of physics are simple, but nature is complex ; Storytelling versus science ; What can a theory of complexity explain? ; Power laws and criticality ; Systems in balance are not complex ; Chaos is not complexity ; Self-organized criticality -- The discovery of self-organized criticality. Science at Brookhaven ; Where does 1/f "noise" come from? ; Susan Coppersmith's dog model ; On coupled pendulums ; The philosophy of using simple models on spherical cows ; The pendulums become critical -- The sandpile paradigm. The sandpile model ; Life in the sandpile world ; Can we calculate the power laws with pen and paper? |
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Real sandpiles and landscape formation. Real sand ; Norwegian rice piles ; Vicsek's landscape experiment : the origin of fractals ; Himalayan sandpiles ; Sediment deposition ; Geomorphology : landscapes out of balance -- Earthquakes, starquakes, and solar flares. Self-organization of earthquakes ; A misprint leads to progress ; Rumbling around stromboli ; The crust of the Earth is critical ; Pulsar glitches and starquakes ; Black holes and solar flares -- The "game of life" : complexity is critical -- Is life a self-organized phenomenon? The Santa Fe Institute ; Sandpiles and punctuated equilibria ; Interacting dancing fitness landscapes. |
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Mass extinctions and punctuated equilibria in a simple model of evolution. Can we model Darwin? ; A science project for a Sunday afternoon ; Life at a cold place ; Comparison with real data ; On dinosaurs and meteors ; Dante Chialvo's evolutionary game ; Self-organized criticality and Gaia ; Replaying the tape of evolution -- Theory of the punctuated equilibrium model. What is a theory? ; The random neighbor version of the evolution model ; The self-organization process ; The critical state ; Revisiting the game of life ; Revisiting earthquakes -- The brain. Why should the brain be critical? ; The monkey problem ; The brain and river networks -- On economies and traffic jams. Equilibrium economics is like water ; Real economics is like sand ; Simple toy model of a critical economy ; Fluctuations and catastrophes are unavoidable ; Traffic jams. |
| Subject |
Critical phenomena (Physics)
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Complexity (Philosophy)
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Physics -- Philosophy.
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| ISBN |
0387947914 hardcover alkaline paper |
|
9780387947914 hardcover alkaline paper |
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