Simplicity in Complex Spatial Systems

Abstract

In the past decade, complexity has become an important and fascinating domain for advanced research on nonlinear dynamics, in which a multiplicity of scientific fields are involved (physics, life sciences, social sciences, economics, geography, and so forth). Complex systems analysis refers to research at the dynamic interface of – or the interaction between – small or micro-elements of a system that are interconnected and determine a macro-level of operation of the system that is not just the sum of the micro-elements. As a result of self-organizing forces among interacting micro-units, a dynamic network configuration may emerge that displays its own dynamics, ranging from “butterfly” effects to scale-free evolution, or from bifurcations with unexpected phase transitions to preferential attachment in small-world networks (see Barabási and Albert 1999; Nicolis and Nicolis 2007). The complexity movement has also had far-reaching impacts on dynamics research in the spatial sciences.