Introduction to Complex Systems
Want to find out what earthquakes, biological evolution, the economy, and traffic jams have in common? Or how to construct a mathematical model of the spread of a riot or the housing market? If so, you are in luck!
This talk covers introductory complex systems physics. Topics include the self-organized criticality of earthquakes, evolution, economics, and traffic jams, epidemiological modeling of the 2005 French riot, and an agent-based model of the housing market. Materials are taken from How Nature Works by Per Bak, Epidemiological modeling of the 2005 French riots: a spreading wave and the role of contagion by Laurent Bonnasse-Gahot1 et al and Residential income segregation: A behavioral model of the housing market by Marco Pangallo et al. Listeners who have taken at least one course in introductory calculus should be able to follow closely.
