Complex dynamics. Advanced system dynamics in complex variables. (Q2641969)

``In recent years the scientific community has coined the rubric ``complex system'' to describe phenomena, structures, aggregates, organisms, or problems that share some common themes: (i) They are inherently complicated or intricate, in that they have factors such as the number of parameters affecting the system or the rules governing interactions of components of the system; (ii) they are rarely completely deterministic, and state parameters or measurement data may only be known in terms of probabilities; (iii) mathematical models of the system are usually complex and involve nonlinear, ill-posed, or chaotic behavior; and (iv) the systems are predisposed to unexpected outcomes (so-called ``emergent behavior''). This is a quotation from the article by R. Foote recently published in Science 318, 19 October, 410 (2007) that is fully suitable for reviewing the present book which is actually ``a complex-valued'' continuation of the early monographs [Geometrical Dynamics of Complex Systems. International Series on Microprocessor-Based and Intelligent Systems Engineering 31. Dordrecht: Springer (2006; Zbl 1092.53001)] and [High-Dimensional Chaotic and Attractor Systems. Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation. Science and Engineering 32. Dordrecht: Springer (2007; Zbl 1118.37003)] by the same authors. Historically, the complex dynamics was rooted to the one complex dimension studies in the 19th century initiated by Newton's dynamics and the 3-body problem in celestial mechanics. The book under review presents, in a concise and simple manner, complex dynamical systems, both low- (such as flows in the complex-plane and Riemann sphere) and high-dimensional (flows in complex manifolds), within the continuous- and discrete-time pictures. The layout of this book consists of seven Chapters. The introductory Chapter 1 gives the objective of the book and provides the reader the preliminaries in complex numbers and variables, particularly with the basic concepts of vectors, complex functions, unit circle, and Riemann sphere. This Chapter also presents some 'soft' introduction to quantum dynamics. Chapter 2 introduces the reader to the theoretical and computational pictures of nonlinear low-dimensional dynamics in the complex plane, within the discrete- and continuous-time approaches. It particularly deals with some well-known models of both real and complex chaotic dynamics such as Mandelbrot and Julia sets, biomorphic systems, Hénon maps, Smale horseshoe maps. Chapter 3 is the key introductory Chapter of the present book to complex quantum dynamics. Chapter 4 develops the existing geometrical machinery of complex manifolds that is the essential tool for the next chapters. The next Chapter 5 entitled ``Nonlinear Dynamics on Complex Manifolds'' serves as a survey of high-dimensional nonlinear complex and continuous dynamics on complex manifolds. The basic formalism of complex path integrals is outlined in Chapter 6. The last Chapter ``Quantum Gravity and Cosmological Dynamics'' describes the modern state of art of physics, focusing on quantum gravity and cosmology, cosmological dynamics, and theory of everything. To summarize, the book under review is actually a broad reflection of the current state of the science of complex dynamics. It is a valuable book to read for serious readers who are interested in the whole spectrum of problems related to complex-valued nonlinear dynamics and in how to directly apply them in the research.