Browsed by
Category: Statistical Mechanics

"The Origin of Wealth" – Revisited

"The Origin of Wealth" – Revisited

Comments 0 Comment

The Origin of Wealth – and Phase Transitions in Complex, Nonlinear Systems Once again, after a nearly two-year hiatus (off by only a week from my first posting on this in May of 2010), I’m getting back to one of my great passions in life – emergent behavior in complex, adaptive systems. And I’m once again starting a discussion/blog-theme referencing Eric Beinhocker’s work, The Origin of Wealth. Since this book was originally published (in 2006), we’ve seen an ongoing series…

Read More Read More

Community Detection in Graphs

Community Detection in Graphs

Comments 0 Comment

Complexity and Graph Theory: A Brief Note Santo Fortunato has published an interesting and densly rich article, Community Detection in Graphs, in  Complexity (Inter-Wiley). This article is over 100 pages long, it is relatively complete, with numerous references and excellent figures. It is a bit surprising, however, that this extensive discussion misses one of the things that would seem to be most important in discussing graphs, and particularly, clusters within graphs: the stability of these clusters. That is; the theoretical basis for cluster…

Read More Read More

The Beauty of Phase Spaces

The Beauty of Phase Spaces

Comments 0 Comment

Phase Spaces: Mapping Complex Systems I’ve spent the day on cloud computing. Yes, there will be a course on it at GMU this Fall of 2010. And cloud computing is simply a technology; a means of getting stuff done. In and of itself, I think there are more exciting things in the world — such as phase spaces. One of the classic nonlinear systems is the Ising spin glass model. This system is composed of only two kind of particles;…

Read More Read More

Graph Theory — Becoming "Organizing Framework"

Graph Theory — Becoming "Organizing Framework"

Comments 0 Comment

Something I’ve been noting — both on my own, and in conversations with Jenn Sleeman , who’s in touch with the academic world at UMBC — Graph theory is growing in centrality as a fundamental organizing framework for many current and emerging computational processes. Specifically, anything more complex than a simple “tuple” (RDF or OWL, etc.), needs to be matched against a graph or partial graph. One good “integrative” paper is Understanding Belief Propagation and its Generalizations by J.S. Yedidia,…

Read More Read More

Non-Equilibrium Information Theory (DARPA group)

Non-Equilibrium Information Theory (DARPA group)

Comments 0 Comment

Of possible interest — DARPA group attempting to use non-equilibrium information theory to study mobile ad hoc wireless networks (MANETs). Lots of information theory pubs, not too sure yet they’re really on to what constitutes “non-equilibrium,” worth investigating.

Quick Note: Helmholtz vs. Gibbs Free Energy

Quick Note: Helmholtz vs. Gibbs Free Energy

Comments 0 Comment

Using this blog as an online set of research notes (about that which I don’t mind sharing ) — suppose that we try using an equilibrium-based approach of some sort for modeling what we all know is a very non-equilibrium world. Which formulation, Helmholtz or Gibbs, works best for us? Helmholtz free energy is at constant temperature and volume. It is denoted as A, where the defining equation is A = U-TS, where U is enthalpy, T is temperature, and…

Read More Read More

Equilibrium and Utility: Two Different Realms

Equilibrium and Utility: Two Different Realms

Comments 0 Comment

Continuing with Beinhocker’s Origin of Wealth, it is important to distinguish carefully between some of the ideas that Beinhocker is expounding. While overall, he is doing a good job of bringing in many related thoughts and ideas, there is a slight tendency towards “mushing.” In that note, I’d like to suggest that we discern carefully between ideas involving utility (Origins, hardcover; pp. 34 & 37), and equilibrium. On pg. 34, Beinhocker begins a discussion of how utility is an underlying…

Read More Read More

"Origins of Wealth" – A (Multi-Part) Critical Review

"Origins of Wealth" – A (Multi-Part) Critical Review

Comments 0 Comment

Over the last few months, questions of not only wealth and finances, but the underpinnings of our entire financial structure, have become paramount in many of our minds. We — that usually means you and me — and right now means the world collectively — have largely misunderstood the world’s financial structure over recent years. (Those who HAVE accurately understood are not only more secure, but substantially richer by now.) Most of us are current on “what went wrong.” Most…

Read More Read More