The path of complexity

Laurent Hébert-Dufresne, Antoine Allard, Joshua Garland, Elizabeth A. Hobson & Luis Zaman 
npj Complexity volume 1, Article number: 4 (2024)

Complexity science studies systems where large numbers of components or subsystems, at times of a different nature, combine to produce surprising emergent phenomena apparent at multiple scales. It is these phenomena, hidden behind the often deceptively simple rules that govern individual components, that best define complex systems. Since these behaviors of interest arise from interactions between parts, complex systems are not counterparts to simple systems but rather to separable ones. Their study therefore often requires a collaborative approach to science, studying a problem across scales and disciplinary domains. However, this approach introduces challenges into the ways collaborations function across traditionally-siloed disciplines, and in the publication of complexity science, which often does not fall cleanly into disciplinary journals. In this editorial, we provide our view of the current state of complex systems research and explain how this new journal will fill an important niche for researchers working on these ideas.

Read the full article at: www.nature.com