2. Complex physical systems (CPS)

Author(s):  
John H. Holland

‘Complex physical systems’ considers the characteristics of complex physical systems (CPS), which are often geometric (specifically, lattice-like) arrays of elements, in which interactions typically depend only on effects propagated from nearest neighbors. The elements of a CPS follow fixed physical laws, usually expressed by differential equations—Newton’s laws of gravity and Maxwell’s laws of electromagnetism are cases in point. Neither the laws nor the elements change over time; only the positions of the elements change. CPS show several properties: self-organized criticality, self-similarity, scaling, and power laws. Examples of these properties—such as, snowflake curves, fractals, networks, dynamics, and symmetry-breaking—are discussed.

Entropy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evaldo Curado ◽  
Fernando Nobre ◽  
Angel Plastino

Events occurring with a frequency described by power laws, within a certain range of validity, are very common in natural systems. In many of them, it is possible to associate an energy spectrum and one can show that these types of phenomena are intimately related to Tsallis entropy S q . The relevant parameters become: (i) The entropic index q, which is directly related to the power of the corresponding distribution; (ii) The ground-state energy ε 0 , in terms of which all energies are rescaled. One verifies that the corresponding processes take place at a temperature T q with k T q ∝ ε 0 (i.e., isothermal processes, for a given q), in analogy with those in the class of self-organized criticality, which are known to occur at fixed temperatures. Typical examples are analyzed, like earthquakes, avalanches, and forest fires, and in some of them, the entropic index q and value of T q are estimated. The knowledge of the associated entropic form opens the possibility for a deeper understanding of such phenomena, particularly by using information theory and optimization procedures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 1613-1629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Accard

Self-organizing systems are social systems which are immanently and constantly recreated by agents. In a self-organizing system, agents make changes while preserving stability. If they do not preserve stability, they push the system toward chaos and cannot recreate it. How changes preserve stability is thus a fundamental issue. In current works, changes preserve stability because agents’ ability to make changes is limited by interaction rules and power. However, how agents diffuse the changes throughout the system while preserving its stability has not been addressed in these works. We have addressed this issue by borrowing from a complex system theory neglected thus far in organization theories: self-organized criticality theory. We suggest that self-organizing systems are in critical states: agents have equivalent ability to make changes, and none are able to foresee or control how their changes diffuse throughout the system. Changes, then, diffuse unpredictably – they may diffuse to small or large parts of the system or not at all, and it is this unpredictable diffusion that preserves stability in the system over time. We call our theoretical framework self-organiz ing criticality theory. It presents a new treatment of change and stability and improves the understanding of self-organizing.


1996 ◽  
Vol 458 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Kendall ◽  
P. J. Cote ◽  
D. Crayon ◽  
F. J. Bonetto

ABSTRACTAcoustic emission (AE) events were recorded during the peeling of pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape from a silicate glass surface. The distributions of AE event durations and energies are found to have the form of power laws. Power-law dependencies (hyperbolic distributions) are recognized as a consequence of self-organized criticality (SOC), resulting from the absence of any characteristic length or time scales. In these studies, standard optical microscopy was used to characterize the fractal nature of the PSA-glass interface. The present results suggest that it is the inherent static structural features found at the fractal PSA-glass interface which produce the observed hyperbolic distributions in AE events, rather than a true SOC process.


2005 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 993-1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. B. Crosby ◽  
N. P. Meredith ◽  
A. J. Coates ◽  
R. H. A. Iles

Abstract. The dynamic behaviour of the outer electron radiation belt makes this area of geo-space a candidate for the concept of self-organized criticality. It is shown here that frequency distributions of measured outer electron radiation belt data are well-represented by power-laws over two decades. Applying the concept of self-organized criticality to interpret the shape of the distributions suggests another approach to complement existing methods in the interpretation of how this complicated environment works. Furthermore sub-grouping the radiation belt count rate data as a function of spatial location or temporal interval (e.g. L-shell, magnetic local time, solar cycle, ...) shows systematic trends in the value of the slope of the power-laws. It is shown that the inner part of the outer radiation belt is influenced in a similar manner to the outer part, but in a less profound way. Our results suggest that the entire outer radiation belt appears to be affected as the sum of its individual parts. This type of study also gives the probability of exceeding a given threshold value over a given time; limiting the size of "an event". The average values could then be compared with models used in spacecraft design.


1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elettra Agliardi ◽  
Emanuele Giovannetti

In this paper we study the morphogenesis of an institution when local social interactions are taken into account. The structure we obtain has characteristics of “self-organized criticality”. After a transient period the system self-organizes into a configuration which is compatible with a high degree of differentiation among different sites and generates typical power laws.


1996 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
MOSHE LEVY ◽  
SORIN SOLOMON ◽  
GIVAT RAM

Power laws are found in a wide range of different systems: From sand piles to word occurrence frequencies and to the size distribution of cities. The natural emergence of these power laws in so many different systems, which has been called self-organized criticality, seems rather mysterious and awaits a rigorous explanation. In this letter we study the stationary regime of a previously introduced dynamical microscopic model of the stock market. We find that the wealth distribution among investors spontaneously converges to a power law. We are able to explain this phenomenon by simple general considerations. We suggest that similar considerations may explain self-organized criticality in many other systems. They also explain the Levy distribution.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Eszenyi ◽  
S. Szabó ◽  
L. Harasztosi ◽  
F. Zámborszky ◽  
J. Nyéki ◽  
...  

FINEMET-type (Fe75Si15NbBCu) ribbons were heat treated, and their magnetic properties were analyzed. Permeability, thermal, and mechanical sensitivities were measured by commonly used industrial methods, and these properties were correlated with measured magnetic Barkhausen noise parameters. Distributions of peak area, A, and peak noise energy, E, were evaluated. Distribution functions of noise parameters, P(x), were in good agreement with the theory of self-organized criticality (SOC), satisfying power laws in the form P(x)∼x−α. It is found that the noise did not considerably depend on the temperature sensitivity parameter and on the permeability of ribbons. However, a useful correlation between the noise parameters and mechanical sensitivity has been observed. Minimal noise was detected for samples with negligible mechanical sensitivity in an amorphous-nanocrystalline composite state obtained by a heat treatment at 853 K.


2021 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Sibani ◽  
Stefan Boettcher ◽  
Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen

Abstract Record Dynamics (RD) deals with complex systems evolving through a sequence of metastable stages. These are macroscopically distinguishable and appear stationary, except for the sudden and rapid changes, called quakes, which induce the transitions from one stage to the next. This phenomenology is well known in physics as “physical aging”, but from the vantage point of RD, the evolution of a class of systems of physical, biological, and cultural origin is rooted in a hierarchically structured configuration space and can, therefore, be analyzed by similar statistical tools. This colloquium paper strives to present in a coherent fashion methods and ideas that have gradually evolved over time. To this end, it first describes the differences and similarities between RD and two widespread paradigms of complex dynamics, Self-Organized Criticality and Continuous Time Random Walks. It then outlines the Poissonian nature of records events in white noise time-series, and connects it to the statistics of quakes in metastable hierarchical systems, arguing that the relaxation effects of quakes can generally be described by power laws unrelated to criticality. Several different applications of RD have been developed over the years. Some of these are described, showing the basic RD hypothesis and how the log-time homogeneity of quake dynamics, can be empirically verified in a given context. The discussion summarizes the paper and briefly mentions applications not discussed in detail. Finally, the outlook points to possible improvements and to new areas of research where RD could be of use. Graphic Abstract


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