16,868 research outputs found
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
From Simple to Complex and Ultra-complex Systems:\ud A Paradigm Shift Towards Non-Abelian Systems Dynamics
Atoms, molecules, organisms distinguish layers of reality because of the causal links that govern their behavior, both horizontally (atom-atom, molecule-molecule, organism-organism) and vertically (atom-molecule-organism). This is the first intuition of the theory of levels. Even if the further development of the theory will require imposing a number of qualifications to this initial intuition, the idea of a series of entities organized on different levels of complexity will prove correct. Living systems as well as social systems and the human mind present features remarkably different from those characterizing non-living, simple physical and chemical systems. We propose that super-complexity requires at least four different categorical frameworks, provided by the theories of levels of reality, chronotopoids, (generalized) interactions, and anticipation
From Giant H II regions and H II galaxies to globular clusters and compact dwarf ellipticals
Massive starforming regions like Giant HII Regions (GHIIR) and HII Galaxies
(HIIG) are emission line systems ionized by compact young massive star clusters
(YMC) with masses ranging from M to M. We model the
photometric and dynamical evolution over a Hubble time of the massive
gravitationally bound systems that populate the tight relation between absolute
blue magnitude and velocity dispersion () of GHIIR and HIIG and
compare the resulting relation with that one of old stellar systems: globular
clusters, elliptical galaxies, bulges of spirals. After 12~Gyr of evolution
their position on the vs. M plane coincides -- depending on the
initial mass -- either with the globular clusters for systems with initial mass
M or with a continuation of the ellipticals, bulges of
spirals and ultracompact dwarfs for YMC with M. The slope
change in the and -size relations at cluster masses around
M is due to the larger impact of the dynamical evolution on the
lower mass clusters. We interpret our result as an indication that the YMC that
ionize GHIIR and HIIG can evolve to form globular clusters and ultra compact
dwarf ellipticals in about 12 Gyr so that present day globular clusters and
ultra compact dwarf ellipticals may have formed in conditions similar to those
observed in today GHIIR and HIIG.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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