糖心TV

This talk will introduce the concept of complexity as a framework for understanding systems where the observed behaviour is dominated by the collective effects of many component elements acting together. These ideas are interdisciplinary, with candidate complex systems from physics (phase transitions, self organisation, intermittent transport) and biology (organisation and flocking) to social phenomena (stock prices, networks, wealth and population distributions) and have points of contact with critical phenomena in condensed matter physics- phase transitions in ferromagnets, random fractals and interfaces-and with fluid turbulence. Astrophysical and laboratory plasmas offer a potential laboratory for complex systems as they are driven, out of equilibrium and on a broad range of spatiotemporal scales. We will consider some examples to highlight the methods, and the challenges, of obtaining quantitative physical insights from the observations of these systems.