The first edition of this book has found great interest among scientists and en­ gineers dealing with pattern recognition and among psychologists working on psychophysics or Gestalt psychology. This book also proved highly useful for graduate students of informatics. The concept of the synergetic computer offers an important alternative to the by now more traditional neural nets. I just mention a few advantages: There are no ghost states so that time-consuming methods such as simulated annealing can be avoided; the synaptic strengths are explicitly determined by the prototype patterns to be stored, but they can equally well be learned, and the learning procedure allows a classification. Also a precise meaning and function can be attributed to "hidden variables".

A macroscopic system consists of a tremendous number of microscopic atoms and molecules. In thermal equilibrium the state of such a system is uniquely defined, despite the fact that the microscopic particles behave quite randomly. This observation gives rise to the fundamental law of the statistical physics; it allows entropy to be defined and a framework for the theory to be constructed.

Nuclei in their ground states behave as quantum fluids, Fermi liquids. When the density, or the temperature of that fluid increases, various phase transitions may occur. Thus, for moderate excitation energies, of the order of a few MeV per nucleon, nuclear matter behaves as an ordinary fluid with gaseous and liquid phases, and a coexistence region below a critical temperature. For higher excitation energies, of the order of a few Ge V per nucleon, the composition of nuclear matter changes, nucleons being gradually turned into baryonic resonances of various kinds. Finally, when 3 the energy density exceeds some few GeV /fm , nuclear matter turns into a gas of weakly interacting quarks and gluons. This new phase of matter has been called the quark-gluon plasma, and its existence is a prediction of Quantum Chromodynamics. Collisions of heavy ions produce nuclear matter with various degrees of excitation. In fact, by selecting the impact parameter and the bombarding energy, one can produce nuclear matter with specified baryonic density and excitation energy. Several major experimental programs are under way (for instance at GANIL, with the detector INDRA, at GSI with the detector ALADIN, at the CERN-SPS, at the AGS of Brookhaven, etc. ), or are in preparation (RRIC, LHC, etc. ). The goal of these experiments is to get evidence for the different phases of nuclear matter predicted by the theory, and to study their properties.

Lectures on Non-linear Plasma Kinetics is an introduction to modern non-linear plasma physics showing how many of the techniques of modern non-linear physics find applications in plasma physics and how, in turn, the results of this research find applications in astrophysics. Emphasis is given to explaining the physics of nonlinear processes and the radical change of cross-sections by collective effects. The author discusses new nonlinear phenomena involving the excitation of coherent nonlinear structures and the dynamics of their random motions in relation to new self-organization processes. He also gives a detailed description of applications of the general theory to various research fields, including the interaction of powerful radiation with matter, controlled thermonuclear research, etc.

Disorder plays a fundamental role in many natural and man-made systems that are of industrial and scienti?c importance. Of all the disordered systems, hete- geneous materials are perhaps the most heavily utilized in all aspects of our daily lives, and hence have been studied for a long time. With the advent of new - perimental techniques, it is now possible to study the morphology of disordered materials and gain a much deeper understanding of their properties. Novel te- niqueshavealsoallowedustodesignmaterialsofmorphologieswiththeproperties that are suitable for intended applications. With the development of a class of powerful theoretical methods, we now have the ability for interpreting the experimental data and predicting many properties of disordered materials at many length scales.

Adaptive Resonance Theory Microchips describes circuit strategies resulting in efficient and functional adaptive resonance theory (ART) hardware systems. While ART algorithms have been developed in software by their creators, this is the first book that addresses efficient VLSI design of ART systems. All systems described in the book have been designed and fabricated (or are nearing completion) as VLSI microchips in anticipation of the impending proliferation of ART applications to autonomous intelligent systems. To accommodate these systems, the book not only provides circuit design techniques, but also validates them through experimental measurements. The book also includes a chapter tutorially describing four ART architectures (ART1, ARTMAP, Fuzzy-ART and Fuzzy-ARTMAP) while providing easily understandable MATLAB code examples to implement these four algorithms in software. In addition, an entire chapter is devoted to other potential applications for real-time data clustering and category learning.

This book studies social phenomena in a new way, by making judicious use of computer technology. The book addresses the entire spectrum of classic studies in social science, from experiments to the computational models, with a multidisciplinary approach. The book is suitable for those who want to get a picture of what it means to do social research today, and also to get an indication of the major open issues. The book is connected to a database of code for simulations, experimental data and allows to activate a subscription to a teaching tool using NetLogo, a programming language widely used in the social studies. The authors are researchers with first-hand experience research projects, both basic and applied. The work will be useful for those who want to understand more of the social, economic and political phenomena via computer applications.

Cybernetical physics borrows methods from both theoretical physics and control engineering. It deals with the control of complex systems is one of the most important aspects in dealing with systems exhibiting nonlinear behavior or similar features that defy traditional control techniques. This book fully details this new discipline.

À partir d’exemples simples et communs puisés dans différentes disciplines (mécanique, hydrodynamique, chimie, dynamique de populations, etc), cet ouvrage introduit le langage et les notions propres aux sciences non linéaires permettant d’analyser, de comprendre et de décrire tous ces phénomènes en adoptant progressivement une approche formelle à visée universelle.

This book offers an informal, easy-to-understand account of topics in modern physics and mathematics. The focus is, in particular, on statistical mechanics, soft matter, probability, chaos, complexity, and models, as well as their interplay. The book features 28 key entries and it is carefully structured so as to allow readers to pursue different paths that reflect their interests and priorities, thereby avoiding an excessively systematic presentation that might stifle interest. While the majority of the entries concern specific topics and arguments, some relate to important protagonists of science, highlighting and explaining their contributions. Advanced mathematics is avoided, and formulas are introduced in only a few cases. The book is a user-friendly tool that nevertheless avoids scientific compromise. It is of interest to all who seek a better grasp of the world that surrounds us and of the ideas that have changed our perceptions.

The conference "Chaos in Astronomy" was held in Athens on 17-20 Sep 2007. International leaders in the field addressed the topics:
Chaos in large N-body systems and in galactic dynamics
Chaos in solar system dynamics
Statistical mechanics of systems with regular and chaotic orbits
Chaos in the formation of large-scale structure in the Universe
Fundamental concepts, methods and tools.
The book contains carefully edited refereed contributions. It serves as a reference to researchers and will give an overview to students and newcomers entering any field of dynamical astronomy.

Complexity Science and Chaos Theory are fascinating areas of scientific research with wide-ranging applications. The interdisciplinary nature and ubiquity of complexity and chaos are features that provides scientists with a motivation to pursue general theoretical tools and frameworks. Complex systems give rise to emergent behaviors, which in turn produce novel and interesting phenomena in science, engineering, as well as in the socio-economic sciences.

In recent years, agent-based simulation has become a widely accepted tool when dealing with complexity in economics and other social sciences. The contributions presented in this book apply agent-based methods to derive results from complex models related to market mechanisms, evolution, decision making, and information economics. In addition, the applicability of agent-based methods to complex problems in economics is discussed from a methodological perspective. The papers presented in this collection combine approaches from economics, finance, computer science, natural sciences, philosophy, and cognitive sciences.

This book contains the lectures given at the Conference on Dynamics and Randomness held at the Centro de Modelamiento Matematico of the Universidad de Chile from December 11th to 15th, 2000. This meeting brought together mathematicians, theoretical physicists and theoretical computer scientists, and graduate students interested in fields re­ lated to probability theory, ergodic theory, symbolic and topological dynam­ ics. We would like to express our gratitude to all the participants of the con­ ference and to the people who contributed to its organization. In particular, to Pierre Collet, Bernard Host and Mike Keane for their scientific advise. VVe want to thank especially the authors of each chapter for their well­ prepared manuscripts and the stimulating conferences they gave at Santiago. We are also indebted to our sponsors and supporting institutions, whose interest and help was essential to organize this meeting: ECOS-CONICYT, FONDAP Program in Applied Mathematics, French Cooperation, Fundacion Andes, Presidential Fellowship and Universidad de Chile. We are grateful to Ms. Gladys Cavallone for their excellent work during the preparation of the meeting as well as for the considerable task of unifying the typography of the different chapters of this book.

This concise primer (based on lectures given at summer schools on complex systems and on a masters degree course in complex systems modeling) will provide graduate students and newcomers to the field with the basic knowledge of the concepts and methods of statistical physics and its potential for application to interdisciplinary topics.