Phase Transitions (Primers in Complex Systems)

Solé, Ricard

ISBN 10: 0691150753 / ISBN 13: 9780691150758

Published by Princeton University Press, 2011

About this Item

This item is in overall good condition. Covers and dust jackets are intact but may have minor wear including slight curls or bends to corners as well as cosmetic blemishes including stickers. Pages are intact but may have minor highlighting writing. Binding is intact; however, spine may have slight wear overall. Digital codes may not be included and have not been tested to be redeemable and or active. Minor shelf wear overall. Please note that all items are donated goods and are in used condition. Orders shipped Monday through Friday! Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Orders shipped Monday through Friday. Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Thank you!

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Phase Transitions (Primers in Complex Systems)
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691150753
• ISBN 13: 9780691150758
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Ricard V. Solé is research professor and head of the Complex Systems Lab at Pompeu Fabra University and external professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is the coauthor of Signs of Life (Basic) and Self-Organization in Complex Ecosystems (Princeton).