Phase Transitions / Ricard Solé.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Solé, Ricard, Author.

Series:

Primers in complex systems.

Primers in Complex Systems ; 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Phase transformations (Statistical physics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (237 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2011]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Phase transitions--changes between different states of organization in a complex system--have long helped to explain physics concepts, such as why water freezes into a solid or boils to become a gas. How might phase transitions shed light on important problems in biological and ecological complex systems? Exploring the origins and implications of sudden changes in nature and society, Phase Transitions examines different dynamical behaviors in a broad range of complex systems. Using a compelling set of examples, from gene networks and ant colonies to human language and the degradation of diverse ecosystems, the book illustrates the power of simple models to reveal how phase transitions occur. Introductory chapters provide the critical concepts and the simplest mathematical techniques required to study phase transitions. In a series of example-driven chapters, Ricard Solé shows how such concepts and techniques can be applied to the analysis and prediction of complex system behavior, including the origins of life, viral replication, epidemics, language evolution, and the emergence and breakdown of societies. Written at an undergraduate mathematical level, this book provides the essential theoretical tools and foundations required to develop basic models to explain collective phase transitions for a wide variety of ecosystems.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

1. Phase Changes

2. Stability and Instability

3. Bifurcations and Catastrophes

4. Percolation

5. Random Graphs

6. Life Origins

7. Virus Dynamics

8. Cell Structure

9. Epidemic Spreading

10. Gene Networks

11. Cancer Dynamics

12. Ecological Shifts

13. Information and Traffic Jams

14. Collective Intelligence

15. Language

16. Social Collapse

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Nov 2019)

ISBN:

9781400838929

1400838924

OCLC:

756484684