Skip to main content

Self-organizing hierarchical modular systems

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
  • 177 Accesses

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 253))

Abstract

The concept of system is closely related to the concept of structure. Recently there has been much effort to "explain" structure generation from dynamic laws.

In contrast to those attempts we show that at least in hierarchical modular systems a particular type of structural organization arises from general thermodynamical concepts, independently from possible dynamical laws which might lead to such structures. We develop a general theory for such systems. It is shown that the monetary system, the population distribution on a territory, and the Italian language follow the laws of hierarchical modularity.

These results are of vital importance to model building, to planning and management, and to other organizational problems, like pyramid architecture, because they show that there are general criteria for efficient planning, at least for the type of system under consideration.

Ricerca effettuata con i fondi erogati dal Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione fondo 40% art. 65 D.P.R. 382/80.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. E.R. Caianiello: Some remarks on organization and structure Biol. Cybernetics 26, 151 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  2. J. Virirakis: The minimization of energy as determinant of the grouping of community facilities Ekistics 199, 503 (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  3. R. Carneiro: Scale analysis as an instrument for the study of cultural evolution Southwestern Journal of Antropology 18, 149 (1962)

    Google Scholar 

  4. R. Carneiro: The measurement of cultural development in the ancient near east and in anglo-saxon England Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences 31, 1013 (1969)

    Google Scholar 

  5. E.R. Caianiello, G. Scarpetta, G. Simoncelli: Sulla legge di distribuzione delle monete Rassegna Economica 44, 771 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  6. E.R. Caianiello, G. Scarpetta, G. Simoncelli: A systemic study of monetary systems Int. Journal of General Systems 8, 81 (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  7. J.C. Hentsch: La circulation des coupures qui constituent une monnaie Journal de la Société de Statistique de Paris n. 4 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  8. J.C. Hentsch: Calcul d'un crietère qualitatif pour les séries de valeurs definissant l'échelonnement des signes monetaires Journal de la Société de Statistique de Paris n. 4 (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  9. J.C. Hentsch: Distribution de la monnaie fiduciaire entre le coupures qui la reprèsentent Journal de la Société de Statistique de Paris n. 4 (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  10. W. Christaller: Die zentralen Orte in Süddeutschland — Jena (1933)

    Google Scholar 

  11. E.R. Caianiello, M. Marinaro, G. Scarpetta, G. Simoncelli: Structure and Modularity in Self-organizing Complex Systems in "General Theory of Structures" eds. M. Aizerman and E.R. Caianiello — Reidel (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  12. H.W. Singer: The "courbe des populations". A parallel to Pareto's law The Economic Journal, vol. XLVI, 254 (1936)

    Google Scholar 

  13. G.R. Allen: The "courbe des populations". A further analysis Bull. of the Oxford University Institute of Statistics 16, 179 (1954).

    Google Scholar 

  14. E.R. Caianiello, A. Negro, R. Tagliaferri, S. Tagliaferri: Hierarchy and Modularity in Natural Languages in "General Theory of Structures" eds. M. Aizerman and E.R. Caianiello — Reidel (1986)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Jörg D. Becker Ignaz Eisele

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Scarpetta, G., Simoncelli, G. (1987). Self-organizing hierarchical modular systems. In: Becker, J.D., Eisele, I. (eds) WOPPLOT 86 Parallel Processing: Logic, Organization, and Technology. WOPPLOT 1986. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 253. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-18022-2_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-18022-2_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-18022-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47709-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics