Randomnicity : rules and randomness in the realm of the infinite / Anastasios A. Tsonis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tsonis, Anastasios A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chaotic behavior in systems.

Stochastic processes.

Infinite.

Physical Description:

xii, 191 pages : illustrations (some color), music ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Imperial College Press ; Singapore ; Hackensack, NJ : Distributed by World Scientific Pub. Co., [2008]

Summary:

This unique book explores the definition, sources and role of randomness. A joyful discussion with many non-mathematical and mathematical examples leads to the identification of three sources of randomness: randomness due to irreversibility which inhibits us from extracting whatever rules may underlie a process, randomness due to our inability to have infinite power (chaos), and randomness due to many interacting systems. Here, all sources are found to have something in common: infinity. The discussion then moves to the physical system (our universe). Through the quantum mechanical character of small scales, the second law of thermodynamics and chaos, randomness is shown to be an intrinsic property of nature - this is consistent with the three sources of randomness identified above. Finally, an explanation is given as to why rules and randomness cannot exist by themselves, but instead have to coexist. Many examples are presented, ranging from pure mathematical to natural and social processes, that clearly demonstrate how the combination of rules and randomness produces the world we live in.

Contents:

The three parts of everything

Sources of randomness

Randomness in the universe

The emergence of the real world

The rold of randomness.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1848161972

9781848161979

1848162057

9781848162051

OCLC:

225820378