783,068 research outputs found
Measuring Complexity in an Aquatic Ecosystem
We apply formal measures of emergence, self-organization, homeostasis,
autopoiesis and complexity to an aquatic ecosystem; in particular to the
physiochemical component of an Arctic lake. These measures are based on
information theory. Variables with an homogeneous distribution have higher
values of emergence, while variables with a more heterogeneous distribution
have a higher self-organization. Variables with a high complexity reflect a
balance between change (emergence) and regularity/order (self-organization). In
addition, homeostasis values coincide with the variation of the winter and
summer seasons. Autopoiesis values show a higher degree of independence of
biological components over their environment. Our approach shows how the
ecological dynamics can be described in terms of information.Comment: 6 pages, to be published in Proceedings of the CCBCOL 2013, 2nd
Colombian Computational Biology Congress, Springe
Complexity and Information: Measuring Emergence, Self-organization, and Homeostasis at Multiple Scales
Concepts used in the scientific study of complex systems have become so
widespread that their use and abuse has led to ambiguity and confusion in their
meaning. In this paper we use information theory to provide abstract and
concise measures of complexity, emergence, self-organization, and homeostasis.
The purpose is to clarify the meaning of these concepts with the aid of the
proposed formal measures. In a simplified version of the measures (focusing on
the information produced by a system), emergence becomes the opposite of
self-organization, while complexity represents their balance. Homeostasis can
be seen as a measure of the stability of the system. We use computational
experiments on random Boolean networks and elementary cellular automata to
illustrate our measures at multiple scales.Comment: 42 pages, 11 figures, 2 table
Measuring the Complexity of Continuous Distributions
We extend previously proposed measures of complexity, emergence, and
self-organization to continuous distributions using differential entropy. This
allows us to calculate the complexity of phenomena for which distributions are
known. We find that a broad range of common parameters found in Gaussian and
scale-free distributions present high complexity values. We also explore the
relationship between our measure of complexity and information adaptation.Comment: 21 pages, 5 Tables, 4 Figure
Epitaxial self-organization: from surfaces to magnetic materials
Self-organization of magnetic materials is an emerging and active field. An
overview of the use of self-organization for magnetic purposes is given, with a
view to illustrate aspects that cannot be covered by lithography. A first set
of issues concerns the quantitative study of low-dimensional magnetic phenomena
(1D and 0D). Such effects also occur in microstructured and
lithographically-patterned materials but cannot be studied in these because of
the complexity of such materials. This includes magnetic ordering, magnetic
anisotropy and superparamagnetism. A second set of issues concerns the
possibility to directly use self-organization in devices. Two sets of examples
are given: first, how superparamagnetism can be fought by fabricating thick
self-organized structures, and second, what new or improved functionalities can
be expected from self-organized magnetic systems, like the tailoring of
magnetic anisotropy or controlled dispersion of properties.Comment: 13 pages, submitted in 2004. Part of a Special Issue about
Self-organization on surfaces, published in C. R. Physiqu
Quantifying Self-Organization with Optimal Wavelets
The optimal wavelet basis is used to develop quantitative, experimentally
applicable criteria for self-organization. The choice of the optimal wavelet is
based on the model of self-organization in the wavelet tree. The framework of
the model is founded on the wavelet-domain hidden Markov model and the optimal
wavelet basis criterion for self-organization which assumes inherent increase
in statistical complexity, the information content necessary for maximally
accurate prediction of the system's dynamics. At the same time the method,
presented here for the one-dimensional data of any type, performs superior
denoising and may be easily generalized to higher dimensions.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
A Life experiment of development Mountain tourism in Portugal observed from the point of view of theories of Complexity, Complication and Self-organization
This paper is an attempt to use the ideas of deepening complexity and self organization theory to a life experiment in developing tourism in a Portuguese mountain region da Estrela.innovation diffusion; complexity; alternative choice; social innovation; learning process; tourism; portugal
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