Abstract
A complex system is a system composed of many interacting parts, often called agents, which displays collective behavior that does not follow trivially from the behaviors of the individual parts. Examples include condensed-matter systems, ecosystems, stock markets and economies, biological evolution, and indeed the whole of human society. Substantial progress has been made in the quantitative understanding of complex systems, particularly since the 1980s, using a combination of basic theory, much of it derived from physics, and computer simulation. The subject is a broad one, drawing on techniques and ideas from a wide range of areas. Here, I give a selection of introductory resources, ranging from classic papers to recent books and reviews.
Received 13 February 2011
Accepted 23 April 2011
Published online 26 July 2011
Article outline:
I. INTRODUCTION
II. GENERAL REFERENCES
A. Books
B. Journals
III. EXAMPLES OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS
A. Physical systems
B. Ecosystems and biological evolution
C. Human societies
D. Economics and markets
E. Pattern formation and collective motion
IV. COMPLEX SYSTEMSTHEORY
A. Lattices and networks
B. Dynamical systems
C. Discrete dynamics and cellular automata
D. Scaling and criticality
E. Adaptation and game theory
F. Information theory
G. Computational complexity
H. Agent-based modeling
V. CONCLUSION
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