Ebook: Bifurcation Analysis: Principles, Applications and Synthesis

Bifurcation theory has made a very fast upswing in the last fifteen years. Roughly speaking it generalises to dynamic systems the pos­ sibility of mUltiple solutions, a possibility already recognised in static systems - physical, chemical, social - when operating far from their equilibrium states. It so happened that quite a few staff members of the Erasmus University Rotterdam were thinking along those lines about certain aspects of their disciplines. To have a number of specialists and potential "fans" convene to discuss various aspects of bifurcation­ al thinking, seemed a natural development. The resulting papers were judged to be of interest to a larger public, and as such are logically regrouped in this volume, one in a series of studies resulting from the activities of the Steering Committee on Interdisciplinary Studies of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. Although the volume is perhaps multidisciplinary rather than interdisciplinary - the interdisciplinary aspect being only "latent" -, as a "soft" interdisciplinary exercise (the application of formal structures of one discipline to another) it has a right to interdisciplinary existence! This book could not have been published without a generous grant of the University Foundation of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, which allowed the conference to be held and the resulting papers to be published; that generosity is gratefully acknowledged.

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-vii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Self-Organisation in Nonequilibrium Systems: Towards A Dynamics of Complexity....Pages 3-12
Bifurcation Phenomena. A Short Introductory Tutorial with Examples....Pages 13-30
Bifurcation and Choice Behaviour in Complex Systems....Pages 31-48
Front Matter....Pages 49-49
Some Remarks on the Nature of Structure and Metabolism in Living Matter....Pages 51-66
The Analysis of Bifurcation Phenomena Associated with the Evolution of Urban Spatial Structure....Pages 67-99
Bifurcation Sets — An Application to Urban Economics....Pages 101-114
Nerves and Switches in Conflict Control Systems....Pages 115-140
Bifurcation as a Model of Description — A Means of Making the Historiography of Philosophy More Historical?....Pages 141-147
Space and Order Looked at Critically. Non-Comparability and Procedural Substantivism in History and the Social Sciences....Pages 149-197
Front Matter....Pages 199-199
Symmetry, Bifurcations and Pattern Formation....Pages 201-232
Synergetic and Resonance Aspects of Interdisciplinary Research....Pages 233-239
Bifurcation: Implications of the Concept for the Study of Organisations....Pages 241-253
Back Matter....Pages 255-259

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-vii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Self-Organisation in Nonequilibrium Systems: Towards A Dynamics of Complexity....Pages 3-12
Bifurcation Phenomena. A Short Introductory Tutorial with Examples....Pages 13-30
Bifurcation and Choice Behaviour in Complex Systems....Pages 31-48
Front Matter....Pages 49-49
Some Remarks on the Nature of Structure and Metabolism in Living Matter....Pages 51-66
The Analysis of Bifurcation Phenomena Associated with the Evolution of Urban Spatial Structure....Pages 67-99
Bifurcation Sets — An Application to Urban Economics....Pages 101-114
Nerves and Switches in Conflict Control Systems....Pages 115-140
Bifurcation as a Model of Description — A Means of Making the Historiography of Philosophy More Historical?....Pages 141-147
Space and Order Looked at Critically. Non-Comparability and Procedural Substantivism in History and the Social Sciences....Pages 149-197
Front Matter....Pages 199-199
Symmetry, Bifurcations and Pattern Formation....Pages 201-232
Synergetic and Resonance Aspects of Interdisciplinary Research....Pages 233-239
Bifurcation: Implications of the Concept for the Study of Organisations....Pages 241-253
Back Matter....Pages 255-259
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