awesome-complexity

An awesome list of complex systems science resources.

Contents

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.
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.

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

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 Weekend - Complexity community of practice.

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.

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.
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.
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.

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.

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.

Wiener, N. (2016). Cybernetics or control and communication in the animal and the machine.
Sorokin, A. (2012). Dynamics of information systems: mathematical foundations. New York, NY: Springer.
Scheffer, M. (2009). Critical transitions in nature and society. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.
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.
Newman, M. E. J. (2010). Networks: an introduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Mitchell, S. D. (2013). Unsimple truths: science, complexity, and policy. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (2008). The tree of knowledge: the biological roots of human understanding. Boston: Shambhala.
Mandelbrot, B. (2006). The fractal geometry of nature. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Kauffman, S. (2014). At Home in the Universe The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity. Cary: Oxford University Press, USA.
Gros, C. (2015). Complex and adaptive dynamical systems: a primer. Cham: Springer.
Downey, A. (2012). Think complexity. Needham, Massachusetts: Green Tea Press.
Boccara, N. (2014). Modeling complex systems. Springer-Verlag New York.
Barrat, A., Barthelemy, M., & Vespignani, A. (2013). Dynamical processes on complex networks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press