Unifying Themes in Complex Systems: Overview Volume IIIA Proceedings from the Third International Conference on Complex Systems

456 Pages·2006·5.38 MB·English

by  David Meyer

Unifying Themes
in Complex Systems
Volume IIIA
Overview
Springer Complexity
springer Complexity is a publication program, cutting across all traditional disciplines of sciences
as well as engineering, economics, medicine, psychology and computer sciences, which is aimed at
researchers, students and practitioners working in the field of complex systems. Complex Systems
are systems that comprise many interacting parts with the ability to generate a new quality of macro
scopic collective behavior through self-organization, e.g., the spontaneous formation of temporal,
spatial or functional structures. This recognition, that the collective behavior of the whole system
cannot be simply inferred from the understanding of the behavior of the individual components,
has led to various new concepts and sophisticated tools of complexity. The main concepts and tools
- with sometimes overlapping contents and methodologies - are the theories of self-organization,
complex systems, synergetics, dynamical systems, turbulence, catastrophes, instabilities, nonlinear-
ity, stochastic processes, chaos, neural networks, cellular automata, adaptive systems, and genetic
algorithms.
The topics treated within Springer Complexity are as diverse as lasers or fluids in physics,
machine cutting phenomena of workpieces or electric circuits with feedback in engineering, growth
of crystals or pattern formation in chemistry, morphogenesis in biology, brain function in neurology,
behavior of stock exchange rates in economics, or the formation of public opinion in sociology. All
these seemingly quite different kinds of structure formation have a number of important features
and underlying structures in common. These deep structural similarities can be exploited to transfer
analytical methods and understanding from one field to another. The Springer Complexity program
therefore seeks to foster cross-fertilization between the disciplines and a dialogue between theo
reticians and experimentalists for a deeper understanding of the general structure and behavior of
complex systems.
The program consists of individual books, books series such as "Springer Series in Synerget
ics", "Institute of Nonlinear Science", "Physics of Neural Networks", and "Understanding Complex
Systems", as well as various journals.
New England Complex Systems Institute
President
Yaneer Bar-Yam
New England Complex Systems Institute
24 Mt. Auburn St.
NECSI
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
For over 10 years, The New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) has been
instrumental in the development of complex systems science and its applications. NECSI
conducts research, education, know-ledge dissemination, and community development
around the world for the promotion of the study of complex systems and its application for
the betterment of society.
NECSI was founded by faculty of New England area academic institutions in 1996 to
further international research and understanding of complex systems. Complex systems is
a growing field of science that aims to understand how parts of a system give rise to the
system's collective behaviors, and how it interacts with its environment. These questions
can be studied in general, and they are also relevant to all traditional fields of science.
Social systems formed (in part) out of people, the brain formed out of neurons,
molecules formed out of atoms, and the weather formed from air flows are all examples of
complex systems. The field of complex systems intersects all traditional disciplines of
physical, biological and social sciences, as well as engineering, management, and
medicine. Advanced education in complex systems attracts professionals, as complex
systems science provides practical approaches to health care, social networks, ethnic
violence, marketing, military conflict, education, systems engineering, international
development and terrorism.
The study of complex systems is about understanding indirect effects. Problems we find
difficult to solve have causes and effects that are not obviously related. Pushing on a
complex system "here" often has effects "over there" because the parts are interdependent.
This has become more and more apparent in our efforts to solve societal problems or avoid
ecological disasters caused by our own actions. The field of complex systems provides a
number of sophisticated tools, some of them conceptual helping us think about these
systems, some of them analytical for studying these systems in greater depth, and some of
them computer based for describing, modeling or simulating them.
NECSI research develops basic concepts and formal approaches as well as their
applications to real world problems. Contributions of NECSI researchers include studies of
networks, agent-based modeling, multiscale analysis and complexity, chaos and
predictability, evolution, ecology, biodiversity, altruism, systems biology, cellular
response, health care, systems engineering, negotiation, military conflict, ethnic
violence, and international development.
NECSI uses many modes of education to further the investigation of complex systems.
Throughout the year, classes, seminars, conferences and other programs assist students and
professionals alike in their understanding of complex systems. Courses have been taught
all over the world: Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Portugal, Russia and many states of the U.S. NECSI also sponsors postdoctoral fellows,
provides research resources, and hosts the International Conference on Complex Systems,
discussion groups and web resources.
New England Complex Systems Institute
Book Series
Series Editor
Dan Braha
NECSI
New England Complex Systems Institute
24 Mt. Auburn St.
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
New England Complex Systems Institute Book Series
The world around is full of the wonderful interplay of relationships and emergent
behaviors. The beautiful and mysterious way that atoms form biological and social
systems inspires us to new efforts in science. As our society becomes more concerned with
how people are connected to each other than how they work independently, so science has
become interested in the nature of relationships and relatedness. Through relationships
elements act together to become systems, and systems achieve function and purpose. The
study of complex systems is remarkable in the closeness of basic ideas and practical
implications. Advances in our understanding of complex systems give new opportunities
for insight in science and improvement of society. This is manifest in the relevance to
engineering, medicine, management and education. We devote this book series to the
communication of recent advances and reviews of revolutionary ideas and their application
to practical concerns.
Unifying Tiiemes
in Complex Systems
Overview
Volume IIIA
Proceedings from the Third International
Conference on Complex Systems
Edited by Ali Minai and Yaneer Bar-Yam
Ali A. Minai
Univeristy of Cincuniiati
Departniont of Eloctrical and
Computer Enginooriiig, and Coniputor Science
P.O. Box 210030, RlKxles Hall 814
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0030
USA
Email: Ali-MinaK^^^ucedu
Yaneer Bar-Yam
New England Complex Systems Institute
24 Mt. Aubm-n St.
Cambridge, MA 02138-3008
USA
Email : [email protected]
This volume is part of the
New England Complex Systems Institute Series on Complexity
ISBN-3-540-35870-6 Springer BerUn Heidelberg New York
Library of Congress Control Number: 200()928841
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CONTENTS
Introduction
ix
Organization and Program
xi
TRANSCRIPTS
1 Pedagogical Session
Complexity: Past and Future - George Cohen 3
Physics and the Complexity Revolution - Michel 4
Baranger 9
Unifying Principles - Atlee Jackson 18
Dynamical Systems - Ronnie Mainieri 29
Panel Discussion - Dan Braha, AH Minai, Helen Harte,
David Meyer, Yaneer Bar- Yam, Daniel Miller , 40
Biomedicine - Don Ingber 50
2 Reception Session 69
Edward Lorenz
3 Emergence 91
Herbert A. Simon Award Lecture - Stuart Kauffman . . 91
Correlations and Dynamics - Eugene Stanley 103
Ecology and Evolution of Communities - Simon Levin . 116
Emergent Dynamics of the Internet - David Clark . . .131
4 Description and Modeling 145
Fundamentals of Mathematics - Greg Chaitin 145
Agents in Societies - Kathleen Carley 155
5 Self-Organization 169
Complex Chemical Systems - George Whitesides . . . .170
From Nonlinear Chemistry to Biology - Irv Epstein. . .186
Artificial Life - Chris Adami 196
Small World Networks - Duncan Watts 212
Complex Engineered Systems 227
Complexity and Design Engineering - Nam Suh . . .. 228
Product Development Complexity - Steven Eppinger. . . 238
Scale Decomposition of Production - Michael Caramanis 253
Complex Systems Integration - Dan Frey 263
Banquet Session 273
Kenneth Arrow
Pedagogical Sessions 295
Biocomplexity - Temple Smith 295
Complex Biological Systems - Leroy Hood 298
The Bacterial Nanobrain - Jeff Stock 311
Biodiversity and the Construction of Ecosystems -
Stuart Pimm 325
Multiple Timescales in Complex Ecosocial Systems -
Jay Lemke 336
Medical Complexity 347
The Virtual Human - Clay Easterly 349
Theory of the Immune System - Alan Perelson 360
Dynamics in Multiscale Biology - Jim Collins 376
Multiorgan Failure - Timothy Buchman 392
Fractal Mechanisms and Complex Dynamics in Health,
Aging, and Disease - Ary Goldberger 301
Medical Errors - Stephen Small 418
INTRODUCTION
The mysteries of highly complex systems that have puzzled scientists
for years are finally beginning to unravel thanks to new analytical and
simulation methods. Better understanding of concepts like complexity,
emergence, evolution, adaptation and self-organization have shown that
seemingly unrelated disciplines have more in common than we thought.
These fundamental insights require interdisciplinary collaboration that
usually does not occur between academic departments. This was the vision
behind the first International Conference on Complex Systems in 1997; not
just to present research, but to introduce new perspectives and foster
collaborations that would yield research in the future.
As more and more scientists began to realize the importance of
exploring the unifying principles that govern all complex systems, the Third
ICCS attracted a diverse group of participants representing a wide variety of
disciplines. Topics ranged from economics to ecology, particle physics to
psychology, and business to biology. Through pedagogical, breakout and
poster sessions, conference attendees shared discoveries that were significant
both to their particular field of interest, as well as the general study of
complex systems. These volumes contain the proceedings from that
conference.
Even with the third ICCS, the science of complex systems is still in its
infancy. In order for complex systems science to fulfill its potential to provide
a unifying framework for various disciplines, it is essential to establish a
standard set of conventions to facilitate communication. This is another
valuable function of the conference; it allowed an opportunity to develop a
common foundation and language for the study of complex systems.
These efforts have produced a variety of new analytic and simulation
techniques that have proven invaluable in the study of physical, biological
and social systems. New methods of statistical analysis led to better
understanding of polymer formation and complex fluid dynamics; further
development of these methods has deepened our understanding of patterns
and networks. The application of simulation techniques such as agent-based
models, cellular automata, and Monte Carlo simulations to complex systems
has increased our ability to understand or even predict behavior of systems
that once seemed completely unpredictable.
The concepts and tools of complex systems are of interest not only to
scientists, but to corporate managers, doctors, political scientists and policy
makers. The same rules that govern neural networks apply to social or
corporate networks, and professionals have started to realize how valuable
these concepts are to their individual fields. The ICCS conferences have
provided the opportunity for professionals to learn the basics of complex
systems and share their real-world experience in applying these concepts.