Awesome Complexity

A curated list of resources related to complex systems, the scientific field studying systems with multiple interacting parts and emergent properties.

Contents

• Concepts
• Scientific Journals
• Blogs/Journals
• Societies/Communities
• Organizations
• Models
• Software
  • Freely to use or open source
  • Proprietary
• Other Resources
• Books

Concepts

• Attractor - A trajectory in the state space of a system in which it tends to evolve towards.
• Autopoiesis - The ability of a system to create and maintain itself.
• Chaos - Theory of chaotic systems.
• Complexity - The subject of complex systems science.
• Developmental Systems Theory - Theoretical perspective on biological development, heredity, and evolution.
• Dissipative System - A thermodynamically open system far from thermodynamic equilibrium.
• Distributed Control - A control system without a central supervisor.
• Edge of Chaos - The transition zone between order and disorder.
• Emergence - The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
• Fractal - Self-similar structure.
• Hysteresis - Dependence of the state of a system on its history.
• Holon - System that is both a whole and a part.
• Network/Graph - Network with non-trivial topological features.
• Phase Transition - Transition between states of matter.
• Robustness - Ability to tolerate perturbations.
• Self-Organization - The process where form arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system.
• Simulation - Imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system.

Scientific Journals

• Complexity - Cross-disciplinary journal about complex adaptive systems (open access).

Blogs/Journals

• The Systems Thinker - Articles with a systems perspective on various topics.
• Complexity Digest - News feed on complexity.
• Fractal forums - Forum and discussion community about fractals.

Societies/Communities

• Complex Systems Society - Scientific society for the study of complex systems.
• Complexity research - Informal slack community for keeping up to date with new findings in complex systems research.
• Complexity Adventures - Complexity community of practice (formerly known as Complexity Weekend).

Organizations

• New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) - Independent academic research and educational institution.
• The Vermont Complex Systems Center - Research and educational center (University of Vermont).
• Santa Fe Institute - Independent research and education center.
• Institut rhônalpin des systèmes complexes - IXXI - Research center (ENS Lyon).
• Waterloo Institute for Complexity & Innovation (WICI) - Research center (University of Waterloo).
• Institut des Systèmes Complexes - Paris Ile-de-France (ISC-PIF) - An inter-institutional organization (CNRS unit) on complex systems research.

Models

• Boids - Emergent flocking behavior.
  • Craig Reynolds' Boids page - The creator's webpage with lots of links to multiple implementations.
• Cellular automata - Discrete compuation model.
• Elementary cellular automaton - One-dimensional cellular automata.
  • All 256 elementary rules in the browser - Interactive explorer, Rule 110 by default.
• Game of Life - Two-dimensional cellular automaton with emergent life-like patterns.
  • ConwayLife - Community for game-of-life and similar simulations.
  • golly - State-of-the-art simulator.
  • Lenia - Continuous generalization of the game of life.
• Double pendulum - Chaotic motion.
• Kuramoto model - Synchronization.
• Barabási–Albert (BA) model - Algorithm for generating random graphs with preferential attachment.
• Schelling's model - Agent-based model for segregation.
• Ising model - Simple model that can show phase transitions.
• Reaction-diffusion - Self-organization and pattern formation model.
• Abelian sandpile model - Model showing self-organized criticality.

Software

Freely to use or open source

• NetLogo - Multi-agent modeling environment based on the LOGO language. It comes with a very large library of toy models.
• Simulus - ABM library in Python.
• Swarm - A platform for agent-based models written in Objective-C, models are coded in Java or Objective-C.
• Repast - Agent-based modeling and simulation platforms, models coded in C++ and Java.
• MASON - Multiagent simulation library core in Java.
• HASH - Graph and agent simulation platform.
• Hybrid Automata Library - Java library for hybrid modeling combining agent-based and partial-differential equation components.

Proprietary

• Stella - Modelling and interactive simulations.
• Ventity/Vensim - Simulation software.
• Cosmo Tech platform - Digital twins simulator software.

Other Resources

• Complexity Explorer - Educational site with news/blog.
• Map of Complex systems History - An impressive overview of the evolution of complex systems thinking.
• Stanford Complexity Group - YouTube channel with videos from the group's events.
• Awesome Network Analysis - Resources for analysis of network data.
• Complexity Explained - Interactive educational website.

Books

• Wiener, N. (2016). Cybernetics or control and communication in the animal and the machine. - The book introduced the term cybernetics to describe a self-regulation mechanism.
• Scheffer, M. (2009). Critical transitions in nature and society. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. - A nicely written and accessible description of the critical transition and related concepts.
• Nicolis, G., Basios, V., & (Firm), W. S. (2015). Chaos, information processing and paradoxical games: the legacy of John S. Nicolis. Singapore; Hackensack, N.J.: World Scientific Pub. Co. - An edited volume of studies honoring the legacy of John Nicolis contribution to complex systems.
• Newman, M. E. J. (2010). Networks: an introduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. - A comprehensive introduction to network science.
• Mitchell, S. D. (2013). Unsimple truths: science, complexity, and policy. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. - The book introduces the perspective of integrative puralism as a way of understanding and studying the world.
• Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (2008). The tree of knowledge: the biological roots of human understanding. Boston: Shambhala. - The book is an exposition of the non-representational vew of knowledge.
• Mandelbrot, B. (2006). The fractal geometry of nature. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. - Beautiful introduction to the world of fractals.
• Kauffman, S. (2014). At Home in the Universe The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity. Cary: Oxford University Press, USA. - The book introduces in an accessible way the influence of concepts such as self-organization and the edge of chaos.
• Gros, C. (2015). Complex and adaptive dynamical systems: a primer. Cham: Springer. - Technical and accessible introduction to a number of important concepts in complex systems science.
• Downey, A. (2012). Think complexity. Needham, Massachusetts: Green Tea Press. - A hands-on approach exploring complex systems models with Python.
• Boccara, N. (2014). Modeling complex systems. Springer-Verlag New York. - An overview of important mathematical models of complex systems.
• Barrat, A., Barthelemy, M., & Vespignani, A. (2013). Dynamical processes on complex networks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press - Dynamic models on complex networks.