Author: Didier Sornette
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 366204174X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 445
Book Description
A modern up-to-date introduction for readers outside statistical physics. It puts emphasis on a clear understanding of concepts and methods and provides the tools that can be of immediate use in applications.
Critical Phenomena in Natural Sciences
Author: Didier Sornette
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 366204174X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 445
Book Description
A modern up-to-date introduction for readers outside statistical physics. It puts emphasis on a clear understanding of concepts and methods and provides the tools that can be of immediate use in applications.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 366204174X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 445
Book Description
A modern up-to-date introduction for readers outside statistical physics. It puts emphasis on a clear understanding of concepts and methods and provides the tools that can be of immediate use in applications.
Disorder and Critical Phenomena Through Basic Probability Models
Author: Giambattista Giacomin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3642211569
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 140
Book Description
Understanding the effect of disorder on critical phenomena is a central issue in statistical mechanics. In probabilistic terms: what happens if we perturb a system exhibiting a phase transition by introducing a random environment? The physics community has approached this very broad question by aiming at general criteria that tell whether or not the addition of disorder changes the critical properties of a model: some of the predictions are truly striking and mathematically challenging. We approach this domain of ideas by focusing on a specific class of models, the "pinning models," for which a series of recent mathematical works has essentially put all the main predictions of the physics community on firm footing; in some cases, mathematicians have even gone beyond, settling a number of controversial issues. But the purpose of these notes, beyond treating the pinning models in full detail, is also to convey the gist, or at least the flavor, of the "overall picture," which is, in many respects, unfamiliar territory for mathematicians.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3642211569
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 140
Book Description
Understanding the effect of disorder on critical phenomena is a central issue in statistical mechanics. In probabilistic terms: what happens if we perturb a system exhibiting a phase transition by introducing a random environment? The physics community has approached this very broad question by aiming at general criteria that tell whether or not the addition of disorder changes the critical properties of a model: some of the predictions are truly striking and mathematically challenging. We approach this domain of ideas by focusing on a specific class of models, the "pinning models," for which a series of recent mathematical works has essentially put all the main predictions of the physics community on firm footing; in some cases, mathematicians have even gone beyond, settling a number of controversial issues. But the purpose of these notes, beyond treating the pinning models in full detail, is also to convey the gist, or at least the flavor, of the "overall picture," which is, in many respects, unfamiliar territory for mathematicians.
Critical Dynamics
Author: Uwe C. Täuber
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521842239
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 529
Book Description
A comprehensive and unified introduction to describing and understanding complex interacting systems.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521842239
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 529
Book Description
A comprehensive and unified introduction to describing and understanding complex interacting systems.
Complexity and Criticality
Author: Kim Christensen
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
ISBN: 191129833X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 409
Book Description
This book provides a challenging and stimulating introduction to the contemporary topics of complexity and criticality, and explores their common basis of scale invariance, a central unifying theme of the book. Criticality refers to the behaviour of extended systems at a phase transition where scale invariance prevails. The many constituent microscopic parts bring about macroscopic phenomena that cannot be understood by considering a single part alone. The phenomenology of phase transitions is introduced by considering percolation, a simple model with a purely geometrical phase transition, thus enabling the reader to become intuitively familiar with concepts such as scale invariance and renormalisation. The Ising model is then introduced, which captures a thermodynamic phase transition from a disordered to an ordered system as the temperature is lowered in zero external field. By emphasising analogies between percolation and the Ising model, the reader's intuition of phase transitions is developed so that the underlying theoretical formalism may be appreciated fully. These equilibrium systems undergo a phase transition only if an external agent finely tunes certain external parameters to particular values. Besides fractals and phase transitions, there are many examples in Nature of the emergence of such complex behaviour in slowly driven non-equilibrium systems: earthquakes in seismic systems, avalanches in granular media and rainfall in the atmosphere. A class of non-equilibrium systems, not constrained by having to tune external parameters to obtain critical behaviour, is addressed in the framework of simple models, revealing that the repeated application of simple rules may spontaneously give rise to emergent complex behaviour not encoded in the rules themselves. The common basis of complexity and criticality is identified and applied to a range of non-equilibrium systems. Finally, the reader is invited to speculate whether self-organisation in non-equilibrium systems might be a unifying concept for disparate fields such as statistical mechanics, geophysics and atmospheric physics. Visit http://www.complexityandcriticality.com for animations for the models in the book (available for Windows and Linux), solutions to exercises, as well as a list with corrections. Contents:Percolation:Percolating Phase TransitionPercolation in One DimensionPercolation on the Bethe LatticePercolation in Two DimensionsGeometric Properties of ClustersScaling Ansatz, Scaling Functions and Scaling RelationsFinite-Size ScalingUniversalityReal-Space Renormalisation GroupIsing Model:Review of Thermodynamics and Statistical MechanicsSymmetry BreakingFerromagnetic Phase TransitionIsing Model in One DimensionMean-Field Ising ModelIsing Model in Two DimensionsLandau Theory of Continuous Phase TransitionsScaling Ansatz, Scaling Functions and Scaling RelationsUniversalityReal-Space Renormalisation GroupSelf-Organised Criticality:Non-equilibrium steady state systemBTW Model in One DimensionMean-Field Theory of the BTW ModelBranching ProcessScaling Ansatz, Scaling Functions and Scaling RelationsBTW Model in Two DimensionsA Rice Pile Experiment and the Oslo ModelEarthquakes and the OFC ModelRainfallSelf-Organised Criticality as a Unifying Principle Readership: Students at all levels, researchers and instructors looking for an introduction to the ideas of complexity and criticality.
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
ISBN: 191129833X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 409
Book Description
This book provides a challenging and stimulating introduction to the contemporary topics of complexity and criticality, and explores their common basis of scale invariance, a central unifying theme of the book. Criticality refers to the behaviour of extended systems at a phase transition where scale invariance prevails. The many constituent microscopic parts bring about macroscopic phenomena that cannot be understood by considering a single part alone. The phenomenology of phase transitions is introduced by considering percolation, a simple model with a purely geometrical phase transition, thus enabling the reader to become intuitively familiar with concepts such as scale invariance and renormalisation. The Ising model is then introduced, which captures a thermodynamic phase transition from a disordered to an ordered system as the temperature is lowered in zero external field. By emphasising analogies between percolation and the Ising model, the reader's intuition of phase transitions is developed so that the underlying theoretical formalism may be appreciated fully. These equilibrium systems undergo a phase transition only if an external agent finely tunes certain external parameters to particular values. Besides fractals and phase transitions, there are many examples in Nature of the emergence of such complex behaviour in slowly driven non-equilibrium systems: earthquakes in seismic systems, avalanches in granular media and rainfall in the atmosphere. A class of non-equilibrium systems, not constrained by having to tune external parameters to obtain critical behaviour, is addressed in the framework of simple models, revealing that the repeated application of simple rules may spontaneously give rise to emergent complex behaviour not encoded in the rules themselves. The common basis of complexity and criticality is identified and applied to a range of non-equilibrium systems. Finally, the reader is invited to speculate whether self-organisation in non-equilibrium systems might be a unifying concept for disparate fields such as statistical mechanics, geophysics and atmospheric physics. Visit http://www.complexityandcriticality.com for animations for the models in the book (available for Windows and Linux), solutions to exercises, as well as a list with corrections. Contents:Percolation:Percolating Phase TransitionPercolation in One DimensionPercolation on the Bethe LatticePercolation in Two DimensionsGeometric Properties of ClustersScaling Ansatz, Scaling Functions and Scaling RelationsFinite-Size ScalingUniversalityReal-Space Renormalisation GroupIsing Model:Review of Thermodynamics and Statistical MechanicsSymmetry BreakingFerromagnetic Phase TransitionIsing Model in One DimensionMean-Field Ising ModelIsing Model in Two DimensionsLandau Theory of Continuous Phase TransitionsScaling Ansatz, Scaling Functions and Scaling RelationsUniversalityReal-Space Renormalisation GroupSelf-Organised Criticality:Non-equilibrium steady state systemBTW Model in One DimensionMean-Field Theory of the BTW ModelBranching ProcessScaling Ansatz, Scaling Functions and Scaling RelationsBTW Model in Two DimensionsA Rice Pile Experiment and the Oslo ModelEarthquakes and the OFC ModelRainfallSelf-Organised Criticality as a Unifying Principle Readership: Students at all levels, researchers and instructors looking for an introduction to the ideas of complexity and criticality.
A Modern Approach to Critical Phenomena
Author: Igor Herbut
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139460129
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
Critical phenomena is one of the most exciting areas of modern physics. This 2007 book provides a thorough but economic introduction into the principles and techniques of the theory of critical phenomena and the renormalization group, from the perspective of modern condensed matter physics. Assuming basic knowledge of quantum and statistical mechanics, the book discusses phase transitions in magnets, superfluids, superconductors, and gauge field theories. Particular attention is given to topics such as gauge field fluctuations in superconductors, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, duality transformations, and quantum phase transitions - all of which are at the forefront of physics research. This book contains numerous problems of varying degrees of difficulty, with solutions. These problems provide readers with a wealth of material to test their understanding of the subject. It is ideal for graduate students and more experienced researchers in the fields of condensed matter physics, statistical physics, and many-body physics.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139460129
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
Critical phenomena is one of the most exciting areas of modern physics. This 2007 book provides a thorough but economic introduction into the principles and techniques of the theory of critical phenomena and the renormalization group, from the perspective of modern condensed matter physics. Assuming basic knowledge of quantum and statistical mechanics, the book discusses phase transitions in magnets, superfluids, superconductors, and gauge field theories. Particular attention is given to topics such as gauge field fluctuations in superconductors, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, duality transformations, and quantum phase transitions - all of which are at the forefront of physics research. This book contains numerous problems of varying degrees of difficulty, with solutions. These problems provide readers with a wealth of material to test their understanding of the subject. It is ideal for graduate students and more experienced researchers in the fields of condensed matter physics, statistical physics, and many-body physics.
Criticality in Neural Systems
Author: Dietmar Plenz
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 3527651020
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 734
Book Description
Neurowissenschaftler suchen nach Antworten auf die Fragen, wie wir lernen und Information speichern, welche Prozesse im Gehirn verantwortlich sind und in welchem Zeitrahmen diese ablaufen. Die Konzepte, die aus der Physik kommen und weiterentwickelt werden, können in Medizin und Soziologie, aber auch in Robotik und Bildanalyse Anwendung finden. Zentrales Thema dieses Buches sind die sogenannten kritischen Phänomene im Gehirn. Diese werden mithilfe mathematischer und physikalischer Modelle beschrieben, mit denen man auch Erdbeben, Waldbrände oder die Ausbreitung von Epidemien modellieren kann. Neuere Erkenntnisse haben ergeben, dass diese selbstgeordneten Instabilitäten auch im Nervensystem auftreten. Dieses Referenzwerk stellt theoretische und experimentelle Befunde internationaler Gehirnforschung vor zeichnet die Perspektiven dieses neuen Forschungsfeldes auf.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 3527651020
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 734
Book Description
Neurowissenschaftler suchen nach Antworten auf die Fragen, wie wir lernen und Information speichern, welche Prozesse im Gehirn verantwortlich sind und in welchem Zeitrahmen diese ablaufen. Die Konzepte, die aus der Physik kommen und weiterentwickelt werden, können in Medizin und Soziologie, aber auch in Robotik und Bildanalyse Anwendung finden. Zentrales Thema dieses Buches sind die sogenannten kritischen Phänomene im Gehirn. Diese werden mithilfe mathematischer und physikalischer Modelle beschrieben, mit denen man auch Erdbeben, Waldbrände oder die Ausbreitung von Epidemien modellieren kann. Neuere Erkenntnisse haben ergeben, dass diese selbstgeordneten Instabilitäten auch im Nervensystem auftreten. Dieses Referenzwerk stellt theoretische und experimentelle Befunde internationaler Gehirnforschung vor zeichnet die Perspektiven dieses neuen Forschungsfeldes auf.
Stirrings in the Archives
Author: Wolfgang Ernst
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442253967
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 109
Book Description
Like most of Wolfgang Ernst’s work, Das Rumoren der Archiv explored the concept of archival and media theory from a current cultural digital context. Ernst challenges the traditional perspective of the cultural heritage institution and how it relied on media for creating, storing and disseminating digital information. Archives have a place in a digital society, and the archivist’s role will be more increasingly vital in the future. As Ernst points out, his work will show a way out of the archive, away from the notion that the era of archive is coming to an end. Here is the long-awaited English translation of this seminal work exploring cultural heritage before the archives, throughout history, and from today into the future. Ernst work emphasized a need to recognize media as a method for capturing and preserving our collective cultural identity. It is vital that archivists promoted a greater awareness of how media technology augmented the creation, management, and dissemination of digital content.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442253967
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 109
Book Description
Like most of Wolfgang Ernst’s work, Das Rumoren der Archiv explored the concept of archival and media theory from a current cultural digital context. Ernst challenges the traditional perspective of the cultural heritage institution and how it relied on media for creating, storing and disseminating digital information. Archives have a place in a digital society, and the archivist’s role will be more increasingly vital in the future. As Ernst points out, his work will show a way out of the archive, away from the notion that the era of archive is coming to an end. Here is the long-awaited English translation of this seminal work exploring cultural heritage before the archives, throughout history, and from today into the future. Ernst work emphasized a need to recognize media as a method for capturing and preserving our collective cultural identity. It is vital that archivists promoted a greater awareness of how media technology augmented the creation, management, and dissemination of digital content.
The Theory of Critical Phenomena
Author: J. J. Binney
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191660566
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 477
Book Description
The successful calculation of critical exponents for continuous phase transitions is one of the main achievements of theoretical physics over the last quarter-century. This was achieved through the use of scaling and field-theoretic techniques which have since become standard equipment in many areas of physics, especially quantum field theory. This book provides a thorough introduction to these techniques. Continuous phase transitions are introduced, then the necessary statistical mechanics is summarized, followed by standard models, some exact solutions and techniques for numerical simulations. The real-space renormalization group and mean-field theory are then explained and illustrated. The final chapters cover the Landau-Ginzburg model, from physical motivation, through diagrammatic perturbation theory and renormalization to the renormalization group and the calculation of critical exponents above and below the critical temperature.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191660566
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 477
Book Description
The successful calculation of critical exponents for continuous phase transitions is one of the main achievements of theoretical physics over the last quarter-century. This was achieved through the use of scaling and field-theoretic techniques which have since become standard equipment in many areas of physics, especially quantum field theory. This book provides a thorough introduction to these techniques. Continuous phase transitions are introduced, then the necessary statistical mechanics is summarized, followed by standard models, some exact solutions and techniques for numerical simulations. The real-space renormalization group and mean-field theory are then explained and illustrated. The final chapters cover the Landau-Ginzburg model, from physical motivation, through diagrammatic perturbation theory and renormalization to the renormalization group and the calculation of critical exponents above and below the critical temperature.
Complexity
Author: M. Mitchell Waldrop
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 150405914X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 492
Book Description
“If you liked Chaos, you’ll love Complexity. Waldrop creates the most exciting intellectual adventure story of the year” (The Washington Post). In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell—and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today. This book is their story—the story of how they have tried to forge what they like to call the science of the twenty-first century. “Lucidly shows physicists, biologists, computer scientists and economists swapping metaphors and reveling in the sense that epochal discoveries are just around the corner . . . [Waldrop] has a special talent for relaying the exhilaration of moments of intellectual insight.” —The New York Times Book Review “Where I enjoyed the book was when it dove into the actual question of complexity, talking about complex systems in economics, biology, genetics, computer modeling, and so on. Snippets of rare beauty here and there almost took your breath away.” —Medium “[Waldrop] provides a good grounding of what may indeed be the first flowering of a new science.” —Publishers Weekly
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 150405914X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 492
Book Description
“If you liked Chaos, you’ll love Complexity. Waldrop creates the most exciting intellectual adventure story of the year” (The Washington Post). In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell—and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today. This book is their story—the story of how they have tried to forge what they like to call the science of the twenty-first century. “Lucidly shows physicists, biologists, computer scientists and economists swapping metaphors and reveling in the sense that epochal discoveries are just around the corner . . . [Waldrop] has a special talent for relaying the exhilaration of moments of intellectual insight.” —The New York Times Book Review “Where I enjoyed the book was when it dove into the actual question of complexity, talking about complex systems in economics, biology, genetics, computer modeling, and so on. Snippets of rare beauty here and there almost took your breath away.” —Medium “[Waldrop] provides a good grounding of what may indeed be the first flowering of a new science.” —Publishers Weekly
Statistical Mechanics of Solids
Author: Louis A. Girifalco
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195167171
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 536
Book Description
This monograph, suitable for use as an advanced text, presents the statistical mechanics of solids from the perspective of the material properties of the solid state. The statistical mechanics are developed as a tool for understanding properties and each chapter includes useful exercises to illustrate the topics covered. Topics discussed include the theory of the harmonic crystal, the theory of free electrons in metal and semiconductors, electron transport, alloy ordering, surfaces and polymers.
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195167171
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 536
Book Description
This monograph, suitable for use as an advanced text, presents the statistical mechanics of solids from the perspective of the material properties of the solid state. The statistical mechanics are developed as a tool for understanding properties and each chapter includes useful exercises to illustrate the topics covered. Topics discussed include the theory of the harmonic crystal, the theory of free electrons in metal and semiconductors, electron transport, alloy ordering, surfaces and polymers.