From Cells to Societies: Models of Complex Coherent Action

This book shows how, by rather simple models, we can gain remarkable insights into the behavior of complex systems. It is devoted to the discussion of functional self-organization in large populations of interacting active elements. The possible forms of self-organization in such systems range from coherent collective motions in the physical coordinate space to the mutual synchronization of internal dynamics, the development of coherently operating groups, the rise of hierarchical structures, and the emergence of dynamical networks. Such processes play an important role in biological and social phenomena. The authors have chosen a series of models from physics, biochemistry, biology, sociology and economics, and will systematically discuss their general properties. The book addresses researchers and graduate students in a variety of disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, biology and the social sciences.