Graduate Courses

CMPLXSYS 401:  History and Philosophy of Complex Systems

This course covers a broad range of fundamental topics relevant to the study of complex systems. The course work involves weekly readings focus on "classics" in the complex systems literature, in order to give students a broad, general understanding for the variety of work that falls under the rubric of complex systems. Topics to be covered will include evolutionary systems, self-organized criticality, measures of complexity, approaches to modeling complex adaptive systems, and emergence. Authors to be covered include Holland, Axelrod, Kaufmann, Bak, and Gell-Mann. Grading will be based on the participation in the discussions and on two or three term papers.

CMPLXSYS 510 / MATH 550:  Introduction to Adaptive Systems

This course is an introduction to applications and integration of dynamical systems and game theory to model population and ecological dynamics and evolutionary processes. Topics include Lotka-Volterra systems, non-cooperative games, replicator dynamics and genetic mechanisms of selection and mutation, and other adaptive systems.

CMPLXSYS 511:  Theory of Complex Systems

A math-based introduction to the theory and analysis of complex systems. Methods covered include nonlinear dynamics, both discrete and continuous, chaos theory, stochastic processes, game theory, criticality and fractals, and numerical methods. Examples include population dynamics, evolutionary theory, genetic algorithms, epidemiology, simple models of markets, opinion formation models, and cellular automata.

CMPLXSYS 530: Computer Modelling of Complex Systems

Introduces students to basic concepts, tools , and issues which arise using computers to model complex systems. Emphasis is placed on the modeling process itself, from model design through implementation to analyzing, documenting, and communicating results. Case studies of computer models of complex systems, including adaptive and non-adaptive complex systems drawn from economics, ecology, immunology, epidemiology, evolutionary biology, political science, and cognitive science.

CMPLXSYS 535 / PHYSICS 508:  Theory of Social and Technological Networks

Introduce and develop the mathematical theory of networks, particularly social and technological networks; applications to important network-driven phenomena in epidemiology of human infections and computer viruses, cascading failure in grids, network resilience and opinion formation. Topics covered: experimental studies of social networks, WWW, internet, information, and biological networks.

CMPLXSYS 541/PHYS 541: Introduction to Nonlinear Dynamics and the Physics of Complexity

An introduction to nonlinear science with an elementary treatment from the point of view of the physics of chaos and fractal growth.

CMPLXSYS 599:  Independent Study