Fundamental concepts and methods of complex systems are widely applicable to a general understanding of complex system behavior, as well as the detailed modeling and design of specific complex systems. Applications include the management of a corporation, the management of networks within and outside a corporation, and the development of products or services. A one day course, Introduction to Complex Systems, will be offered on Sunday September 24, 2000. This course will give an introduction to the opportunities that complex systems provides in research and in applications. Several approaches to the study of complex systems will be described, basic concepts will be introduced and implications for the study of biological, social and engineered systems will be discussed.
Space is limited.
The award will be presented at the International Conference on Complex Systems on Monday May 21. A historical dispute in the conceptual underpinnings of evolution is the validity of the gene centered view of evolution. We transcend this debate by formalizing the gene centered view and establishing the limits on its applicability. We show that the gene-centered view is a dynamic version of the well known mean field approximation. It breaks down for trait divergence which corresponds to symmetry breaking in evolving populations.