New England Complex Systems Institute

Statistical Physics of Complex Systems:

IS STATISTICAL PHYSICS A USEFUL TOOL FOR UNDERSTANDING COMPLEX SYSTEMS?

October 23-24, 1998

Conference Chair: Bruce Boghosian

Overview: In spite of impressive theoretical and computational advances in the field of statistical mechanics, there remains a substantial gulf between the types of systems to which it has been applied and those which we might label "complex" in nature. This session will aim to identify and examine problems that have inhibited the application of statistical mechanics to complex systems. The conference will be conducted in an informal, workshop atmosphere.

Agenda:

Friday, 10/23/98:
5-7 pm
Reception for all attendees at Boston University
Building PRB 593
3 Cummington Street
Boston, MA

Saturday, 10/24/98:
M.I.T., room 6-120
Cambridge, MA

8:15 am: Bruce Boghosian, Boston University	Opening remarks
8:30 am: Michel Baranger, M.I.T.	"Does Chaos Theory Have Interesting Things to Say About Statistical Physics?"
9:15 am: Peter Coveney, Schlumberger Cambridge Research	"Renormalisation Group Theory of Nucleation and Growth Phenomena"
10:00 am: Break
10:15 am: Jon Machta, University of Massachusetts, Amherst	"How to Define Complexity in Statistical Physics"
11:00 am: Daniel Fisher, Harvard University	"Scaling and Universality in Some Driven Dynamical Systems: Relevance or Irrelevance"
11:45 am: Discussion
12:30 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm: Jean Pierre Boon, Universite Libre de Bruxelles	"Random and Not So Random Walks: From Simplcity to Complexity"
2:45 pm: Constantino Tsallis, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas	"Nonextensive Statistical Mechanics: A Possible Tool for Complex Systems"
3:30 pm: break
3:45 pm: David Levermore, University of Arizona	TBA
4:30 pm: David Sherrington, Oxford University	"Complexity Due to Disorder and Frustration in Strongly Interacting Systems"
5:15 pm: Discussion
6:00 pm: Adjournment

This conference is a satellite conference of the International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS) which will take place October 25-30 in Nashua, NH. Registration and program information for ICCS are available from the ICCS web page.

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