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Title: 1991 Annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity

Abstract

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.,more » 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.« less

Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Santa Fe Inst., NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
10166545
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/25054-3
ON: DE92018596
DOE Contract Number:  
FG05-88ER25054
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: [1991]
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES; RESEARCH PROGRAMS; PROGRESS REPORT; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; NONLINEAR PROBLEMS; MATHEMATICAL MODELS; GENETICS; ALGORITHMS; FORECASTING; TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS; LAND USE; ECOSYSTEMS; GENOME MUTATIONS; ECONOMICS; SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS; GAME THEORY; EDUCATION; TRAINING; TOPOGRAPHY; 990200; 290500; MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTERS; RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRATION, AND COMMERCIALIZATION

Citation Formats

. 1991 Annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity. United States: N. p., 1991. Web. doi:10.2172/10166545.
. 1991 Annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/10166545
. 1991. "1991 Annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/10166545. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/10166545.
@article{osti_10166545,
title = {1991 Annual report on scientific programs: A broad research program on the sciences of complexity},
author = {},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.2172/10166545},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10166545}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1991},
month = {Tue Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 1991}
}