1991 Annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity
1991 was continued rapid growth for the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) as it broadened its interdisciplinary research into the organization, evolution and operation of complex systems and sought deeply the principles underlying their dynamic behavior. Research on complex systems--the focus of work at SFI--involves an extraordinary range of topics normally studied in seemingly disparate fields. Natural systems displaying complex behavior range upwards from proteins and DNA through cells and evolutionary systems to human societies. Research models exhibiting complexity include nonlinear equations, spin glasses, cellular automata, genetic algorithms, classifier systems, and an array of other computational models. Some of the major questions facing complex systems researchers are: (1) explaining how complexity arises from the nonlinear interaction of simples components, (2) describing the mechanisms underlying high-level aggregate behavior of complex systems (such as the overt behavior of an organism, the flow of energy in an ecology, the GNP of an economy), and (3) creating a theoretical framework to enable predictions about the likely behavior of such systems in various conditions. The importance of understanding such systems in enormous: many of the most serious challenges facing humanity--e.g., environmental sustainability, economic stability, the control of disease--as well as many of the hardest scientific questions--e.g., protein folding, the distinction between self and non-self in the immune system, the nature of intelligence, the origin of life--require deep understanding of complex systems.
- Research Organization:
- Santa Fe Inst., NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG05-88ER25054
- OSTI ID:
- 7275546
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/25054-3; ON: DE92018596
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
1992 annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity
A broad research program on the sciences of complexity: Annual report
Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
ALGORITHMS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ECONOMICS
ECOSYSTEMS
EDUCATION
FORECASTING
GAME THEORY
GENETICS
GENOME MUTATIONS
LAND USE
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PROGRESS REPORT
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS
TOPOGRAPHY
TRAINING
BIOLOGY
DOCUMENT TYPES
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
MATHEMATICS
MUTATIONS
SIMULATION
STATISTICS
990200* - Mathematics & Computers
290500 - Energy Planning & Policy- Research
Development
Demonstration
& Commercialization