This book provides an outline of theoretical concepts and their experimental verification in studies of self-organization phenomena in chemical systems, as they emerged in the mid-20th century and have evolved since. Presenting essays on selected topics, it was prepared by authors who have made profound contributions to the field. Traditionally, physical chemistry has been concerned with interactions between atoms and molecules that produce a variety of equilibrium structures - or the 'dead' order - in a stationary state. But biological cells exhibit a different 'living' kind of order, prompting E. Schrödinger to pose his famous question “What is life?” in 1943. Through an unprecedented theoretical and experimental development, it was later revealed that biological self-organization phenomena are in complete agreement with the laws of physics, once they are applied to a special class of thermodynamically open systems and non-equilibrium states. This knowledge has in turn led to the design and synthesis of simple inorganic systems capable of self-organization effects. These artificial 'living organisms' are able to operate on macroscopic to microscopic scales, even down to single-molecule machines. In the future, such research could provide a basis for a technological breakthrough, comparable in its impact with the invention of lasers and semiconductors. Its results can be used to control natural chemical processes, and to design artificial complex chemical processes with various functionalities. The book offers an extensive discussion of the history of research on complex chemical systems and its future prospects.
Large populations of interacting active elements, periodic or chaotic, can undergo spontaneous transitions to dynamically ordered states. These collective states are characterized by self-organized coherence revealed by full mutual synchronization of individual dynamics or the formation of multiple synchronous clusters. Such self-organization phenomena are essential for the functioning of complex systems of various origins, both natural and artificial. This book provides a detailed introduction to the theory of collective synchronization phenomena in large complex systems. Transitions to dynamical clustering and synchronized states are systematically discussed. Such concepts as dynamical order parameters, glass like behavior and hierarchical organization are presented.
This book gives an introduction to the mathematical theory of cooperative behavior in active systems of various origins, both natural and artificial. It is based on a lecture course in synergetics which I held for almost ten years at the University of Moscow. The first volume deals mainly with the problems of pattern formation and the properties of self-organized regular patterns in distributed active systems. It also contains a discussion of distributed analog information processing which is based on the cooperative dynamics of active systems. The second volume is devoted to the stochastic aspects of self-organization and the properties of self-established chaos. I have tried to avoid delving into particular applications. The primary intention is to present general mathematical models that describe the principal kinds of coopera tive behavior in distributed active systems. Simple examples, ranging from chemical physics to economics, serve only as illustrations of the typical context in which a particular model can apply. The manner of exposition is more in the tradition of theoretical physics than of mathematics: Elaborate formal proofs and rigorous estimates are often replaced in the text by arguments based on an intuitive understanding of the relevant models. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this book, its readers might well come from very diverse fields of endeavor. It was therefore desirable to minimize the re quired preliminary knowledge. Generally, a standard university course in differential calculus and linear algebra is sufficient.
Using simple models this book shows how we can gain insights into the behavior of complex systems. It is devoted to the discussion of functional self-organization in large populations of interacting active elements. The authors have chosen a series of models from physics, biochemistry, biology, sociology and economics, and systematically discuss their general properties. The book addresses researchers and graduate students in a variety of disciplines.
This review volume is devoted to a discussion of analogies and differences of complex production systems OCo natural, as in biological cells, or man-made, as in economic systems or industrial production. Taking this unified look at production is based on two observations: Cells and many biological networks are complex production units that have evolved to solve production problems in a reliable and optimal way in a highly stochastic environment. On the other hand, industrial production is becoming increasingly complex and often hard to predict. As a result, modeling and control of such production networks involve many different spatial and temporal scales and decision policies for many different structures. The common themes of industrial and biological production include evolution and optimization, synchronization and self-organization, robust operation despite high stochasticity, and hierarchical dynamics. The mathematical techniques used come from dynamical systems theory, transport equations, control theory, pattern formation, graph theory, discrete event simulations, stochastic processes, and others. The application areas range from semiconductor production to supply chains, protein networks, slime molds, social networks, and whole economies.
This review volume, co-edited by Nobel laureate G Ertl, provides a broad overview on current studies in the understanding of design and control of complex chemical systems of various origins, on scales ranging from single molecules and nano-phenomena to macroscopic chemical reactors. Self-organizational behavior and the emergence of coherent collective dynamics in reactionOCodiffusion systems, reactive soft matter and chemical networks are covered. Special attention is paid to the applications in molecular cell biology and to the problems of biological evolution, synthetic biology and design of artificial living cells.Starting with a detailed introduction on the history of research on complex chemical systems, its current state of the art and perspectives, the book comprises 19 chapters that survey the current progress in particular research fields. The reviews, prepared by leading international experts, yield together a fascinating picture of a rapidly developing research discipline that brings chemical engineering to new frontiers.
This textbook is based on a lecture course in synergetics given at the University of Moscow. In this second of two volumes, we discuss the emergence and properties of complex chaotic patterns in distributed active systems. Such patterns can be produced autonomously by a system, or can result from selective amplification of fluctuations caused by external weak noise. Although the material in this book is often described by refined mathematical theories, we have tried to avoid a formal mathematical style. Instead of rigorous proofs, the reader will usually be offered only "demonstrations" (the term used by Prof. V. I. Arnold) to encourage intuitive understanding of a problem and to explain why a particular statement seems plausible. We also refrained from detailing concrete applications in physics or in other scientific fields, so that the book can be used by students of different disciplines. While preparing the lecture course and producing this book, we had intensive discussions with and asked the advice of Prof. V. I. Arnold, Prof. S. Grossmann, Prof. H. Haken, Prof. Yu. L. Klimontovich, Prof. R. L. Stratonovich and Prof. Ya.
This book provides an outline of theoretical concepts and their experimental verification in studies of self-organization phenomena in chemical systems, as they emerged in the mid-20th century and have evolved since. Presenting essays on selected topics, it was prepared by authors who have made profound contributions to the field. Traditionally, physical chemistry has been concerned with interactions between atoms and molecules that produce a variety of equilibrium structures - or the 'dead' order - in a stationary state. But biological cells exhibit a different 'living' kind of order, prompting E. Schrödinger to pose his famous question “What is life?” in 1943. Through an unprecedented theoretical and experimental development, it was later revealed that biological self-organization phenomena are in complete agreement with the laws of physics, once they are applied to a special class of thermodynamically open systems and non-equilibrium states. This knowledge has in turn led to the design and synthesis of simple inorganic systems capable of self-organization effects. These artificial 'living organisms' are able to operate on macroscopic to microscopic scales, even down to single-molecule machines. In the future, such research could provide a basis for a technological breakthrough, comparable in its impact with the invention of lasers and semiconductors. Its results can be used to control natural chemical processes, and to design artificial complex chemical processes with various functionalities. The book offers an extensive discussion of the history of research on complex chemical systems and its future prospects.
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