A Broad Research Program in the Sciences of Complexity

Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe NM

Investigators

Abstract

The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is a private, independent research institute dedicated to long-term, creative, trans-disciplinary research across the physical, computational, biological and social sciences. SFI focuses on fundamental scientific problems that cross scales and can be addressed by quantitative thinking, mathematical modeling and empirical data analyses. This award supports five years of continued support for the Sante Fe Institute's (SFI) multi-disciplinary Integrative Core research program in the sciences of complexity. The award will provide partial support for SFI's visiting scientist program, workshop program, postdoctoral and graduate fellows, and educational activities. The supported work covers the following broad areas: 1. Physics of Complex Systems: Fundamental physics at SFI has spanned the principles of quantum and statistical mechanics, information theory, nonlinear dynamics and chaos, and discrete systems. These fields have provided techniques and approaches to problem solving that are useful across the sciences, and served as points of departure for the recognition of new principles. Current SFI research in physics includes: statistical physics with emphasis on self-organized states and non-conventional statistics; foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum information and control; network structure and dynamics with a wide variety of applications; and scaling and the search for quantitative, predictive theories of social and biological systems. 2. Computation in Complex Systems: SFI's research in computation has included seminal contributions in evolutionary and adaptive computation, in understanding relationships between physics and computation, in models of distributed and collective agent-based computation, and in applications of biological insights to engineered computational systems. The current work will extend SFI's contributions in the areas of physics and computation, computation in biological systems, and biologically inspired solutions to computational problems. 3. Innovation in Evolutionary Systems: Evolutionary innovations are the means by which evolution has overcome the differential between the growth of populations and the growth of the resources needed to support them. Innovation is consequently of substantial theoretical and practical concern. Research at SFI on innovation is broadly concerned with two issues: accounting for the diversity and complexity of forms in biological and technological systems; and developing a theory of transitions among forms. 4. Emergence, Organization, and Dynamics of Living Systems: Research on living systems at SFI includes: the origin of metabolism from early-earth geochemistry; the integration of energy capture, reproduction, and mutation in artificial organisms; the creation of minimal forms of life; the core principles governing ecosystem construction, stability, and measurement; the mechanisms providing stability at the social level; and applications of phylogenetic methods to vaccine development for HIV. 5. Dynamics of Human Behavior and Institutions: A continuing SFI research focus is the emergence, persistence, and demise of social institutions and their co-evolution with distinctive human behaviors, such as altruistic cooperation, out-group hostility and adaptive learning, that are typically overlooked in standard economics and other behavioral science models.