IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/hin/complx/6105872.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Introduction to Complex Systems Science and Its Applications

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander F. Siegenfeld
  • Yaneer Bar-Yam

Abstract

The standard assumptions that underlie many conceptual and quantitative frameworks do not hold for many complex physical, biological, and social systems. Complex systems science clarifies when and why such assumptions fail and provides alternative frameworks for understanding the properties of complex systems. This review introduces some of the basic principles of complex systems science, including complexity profiles, the tradeoff between efficiency and adaptability, the necessity of matching the complexity of systems to that of their environments, multiscale analysis, and evolutionary processes. Our focus is on the general properties of systems as opposed to the modeling of specific dynamics; rather than provide a comprehensive review, we pedagogically describe a conceptual and analytic approach for understanding and interacting with the complex systems of our world. This paper assumes only a high school mathematical and scientific background so that it may be accessible to academics in all fields, decision-makers in industry, government, and philanthropy, and anyone who is interested in systems and society.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander F. Siegenfeld & Yaneer Bar-Yam, 2020. "An Introduction to Complex Systems Science and Its Applications," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2020, pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:hin:complx:6105872
    DOI: 10.1155/2020/6105872
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/8503/2020/6105872.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/8503/2020/6105872.xml
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1155/2020/6105872?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alexandru Topîrceanu, 2023. "On the Impact of Quarantine Policies and Recurrence Rate in Epidemic Spreading Using a Spatial Agent-Based Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Won-Chul Bing, 2021. "Sociopolitical Approach to the Launch History of the KBO League: Application of Complex System Paradigm," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-15, May.
    3. Lopes, António M. & Machado, J.A. Tenreiro, 2022. "Multidimensional scaling and visualization of patterns in global large-scale accidents," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    4. Ilaria Perissi & Gianluca Martelloni & Ugo Bardi & Davide Natalini & Aled Jones & Angel Nikolaev & Lukas Eggler & Martin Baumann & Roger Samsó & Jordi Solé, 2021. "Cross-Validation of the MEDEAS Energy-Economy-Environment Model with the Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System (TIMES) and the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-27, February.
    5. José V. Matos & Rui J. Lopes, 2021. "Food System Sustainability Metrics: Policies, Quantification, and the Role of Complexity Sciences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-38, November.
    6. Ravi Bhavnani & Nina Schlager & Karsten Donnay & Mirko Reul & Laura Schenker & Maxime Stauffer & Tirtha Patel, 2023. "Household behavior and vulnerability to acute malnutrition in Kenya," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Michael G Jacobides & Ioannis Lianos, 2021. "Ecosystems and competition law in theory and practice [Ecosystem as structure: an actionable construct for strategy]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(5), pages 1199-1229.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hin:complx:6105872. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mohamed Abdelhakeem (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.hindawi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.