Description

A great variety of complex phenomena in many scientific fields exhibit power-law behavior, reflecting a hierarchical or fractal structure. Many of these phenomena seem to be susceptible to description using approaches drawn from thermodynamics or statistical mechanics, particularly approaches involving the maximization of entropy and of Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical mechanics and standard laws in a natural way. The book addresses the interdisciplinary applications of these ideas, and also on various phenomena that could possibly be quantitatively describable in terms of these ideas.

Reviews

"Gell-Mann (Science Board, Santa Fe Institute) and Tsallis (Brazilian Center for Physics Research) present material on interdisciplinary applications of ideas related to the nonextensive generalization of entropy, Boltzmann- Gibbs statistical mechanics, and standard thermodynamics. Applications relate to dynamical, physical, geophysical, biological, economic, financial, and social systems, and to networks, linguistics, and plectics. A dripping faucet as a nonextensive system, the pricing of stock options, and spatial patterns in forest ecology are some subjects discussed. Material originated at an April 2002 workshop held at the Santa Fe Institute."--SciTech Book News

Product Details

440 pages; 22 halftones, 77 line illus.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-515977-6ISBN10: 0-19-515977-2

About the Author(s)