From cells to societies. Models of complex coherent action. With a foreword by Hermann Haken (Q1847344)

This book is devoted to the discussion of functional self-organization in large populations of interacting active elements. The possible forms of self-organization in such complex systems range from coherent motions in the physical coordinate space to the mutual synchronization of the internal dynamics, the development of coherently operating groups, the rise of hierarchical structures, and the emergence of dynamical networks. The authors consider a series of relatively simple mathematical models from physics, biology, biochemistry, sociology and economics, and following the tradition of theoretical physics, they systematically discuss their general properties. The models may be ordered into a sequence progressing from the non-differentiated collective dynamics (characteristic of cell populations) to the hierarchically organizad dynamics of many interacting networks (characteristic of societies). The book provides an elementary introduction to the collective dynamics for researchers and graduate students in a variety of disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, biology and social sciences.