Most Recent
Complex Systems Annual Nobel Symposium 2021
For full event listing and speakers, CLICK HERE.
Watch the talks:
Complex Systems Seminar Series Presents: "The Evolutionary Exploration of Emergent Execution: Genetic Programming and Weird Machines" (Click to View)
Olivia Lucca Fraser - Special Circumstances (research consultancy)
Date of Seminar: December 7, 2021
ABSTRACT: The process of exploiting or "hacking" a software vulnerability can, in many cases, be understood as the process of discovering and then programming what Halvar Flake has called a "weird machine" -- a spontaneous virtual machine that supervenes on the intended finite state machine that the vulnerable software in question implements. A weird machine has ... FOR FULL ABSTRACT AND EVENT LISTING CLICK HERE
Complex Systems Seminar Series Presents: "Using Information Geometry to Find Simple Models of Complex Processes" (Click to View)
Mark Transtrum - Brigham Young University
Date of Seminar: November 9, 2021
AABSTRACT: Effective theories play a fundamental role in how we reason about the world. Although real physical processes are very complicated, useful models abstract away the irrelevant degrees of freedom to give parsimonious representations. I use information geometry to construct simplified models for many types of complex systems, such as biology, neuroscience, statistical physics, and complex engineered systems. .......FOR FULL ABSTRACT AND EVENT LISTING CLICK HERE
Complex Systems Seminar Series Presents: "Dynamical system models for politics and voting" (Click to View)
Vicky Chuqiao Yang - The Santa Fe Institute
Date of Seminar: October 12, 2021
ABSTRACT: The recent US political landscape brings many puzzling questions. For example, the two major parties have become increasingly polarized since the 1960s, while most voters maintained moderate policy positions. What can lead to the disconnect between the parties and the voters? Also, a sizable proportion, often the majority, of the voting population is uninformed about facts relevant to their voting decisions, such as policies proposed by the candidates. Can such a voting body deliver good collective decisions? In this talk, I give an overview of research projects that address these complex issues, which leverage dynamical-system models, empirical findings in psychology, and data analysis. .......FOR FULL ABSTRACT AND EVENT LISTING CLICK HERE
Complex Systems Seminar Series Presents: "The Effects of Task Complexity on Group Synergy" (Click to View)
Duncan Watts - University of Pennsylvania: Annenberg School of Communication and Wharton School of Business
Date of Seminar: April 15, 2021
Abstract: Complexity—defined in terms of the number of components to a problem and the nature the inter-dependencies between them—is clearly a relevant feature of all tasks performed by groups. Yet the role that task complexity plays in determining group performance remains poorly understood, in part because no clear language exists to express it in a way that allows for straightforward comparisons across tasks. ........FOR FULL ABSTRACT AND EVENT LISTING CLICK HERE
Earlier Recordings
Jon Zelner | Where models meet morality: What role should complexity science play in addressing racial and socioeconomic disparities in the COVID-19 crisis? |
Complex Systems Seminar Series Presents: "Where models meet morality: What role should complexity science play in addressing racial and socioeconomic disparities in the COVID-19 crisis?" (Click to view)
Jon Zelner, School of Public Health, University of Michigan
Date of Seminar: March 9, 2021
ABSTRACT: Socioeconomic and racial inequalities in infection and mortality have been key features of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. While identifying these disparities is critical, it has also become clear that we lack the theoretical and methodological tools to integrate the mechanisms generating these inequities into models of infectious disease transmission ... FOR FULL ABSTRACT AND EVENT LISTING CLICK HERE
James Koopman & Carl Simon | New data, models, and methods to guide SARS-CoV-2 vaccine design and vaccination programs that counter escape mutations | March 2, 2021
Complex Systems Seminar Presents "New data, models, and methods to guide SARS-CoV-2 vaccine design and vaccination programs that counter escape mutations" (Click to view)
James Koopman Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan; Carl Simon, Complex Systems, Math, Public Policy, University of Michigan
Date of Seminar: March 2, 2021
Abstract: Before the emergence of escape mutants that now threaten pandemic control, we constructed and analyzed the first model integrating immune waning and escape mutations. In the model, escape mutants were not problematic until a year into the pandemic. After they emerged, vaccination could worsen the pandemic. We examined four patterns by which existing escape mutants ... SEE FULL ABSTRACT AND EVENT LISTING HERE
Pavel Chykov | Low rattling: A predictive principle for self-organization in active collectives | February 23, 2021
Complex Systems Seminar Series Presents: "Low rattling: A predictive principle for self-organization in active collectives" (Click to view - Note: there is a slight delay before the audio begins)
Pavel Chvykov - Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date of Seminar: February 23, 2021
ABSTRACT: In this work we suggest a mechanism for self-organization of active matter, which we believe may be quite general. This mechanism is similar....SEE FULL ABSTRACT AND EVENT LISTING HERE
Complex Systems Annual Nobel Symposium December 10, 2020
Complex Systems Annual Nobel Symposium December 10, 2020 - Listen to the talks:
Steven Strogatz | Searching for the densest network that does not always synchronize | November 17, 2020
Complex Systems Seminar Series Presents "Searching for the densest network that does not always synchronize" <----To View Click Here
Steven Strogatz, Applied Mathematics, Cornell University
Date of Seminar: Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Abstract: Consider a network of identical phase oscillators with sinusoidal coupling. How likely are the oscillators to globally synchronize, starting from random initial phases? One expects dense networks to have a strong tendency to synchronize and the basin of attraction .... SEE FULL EVENT LISTING HERE
Carl P Simon | Choice of Fitness Function Matters. Which One Do Salmon Use? | Nov. 10 2020
Complex Systems Seminar Series Presents "Choice of Fitness Function Matters. Which One Do Salmon Use?" <----To View Click Here
Carl P. Simon, Emeritus - UM Mathematics, Complex Systems and Ford School of Public Policy
Date of Seminar: Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Abstract: Life history theory focuses on characteristics of organisms, such as size and age at maturity or tradeoffs between egg number and egg size. It studies how such traits vary as evolutionary responses to natural selection that optimize fitness...SEE FULL EVENT LISTING HERE.
Marisa Renardy | Predicting the second wave of COVID-19 in Washtenaw County, MI | Nov 10 2020
CSCS/MIDAS/MICDE Seminar | Predicting the second wave of COVID-19 in Washtenaw County, MI <---To View Click Here
Marissa Renardy, UM Department of Microbiology & Immunology (Michigan Medicine)
Date of Seminar: Tuesday, October 20, 2020
"In this work, we study and predict the spread of COVID-19 in Washtenaw County, MI through applying a discrete and stochastic network-based modeling framework. In this framework.....SEE FULL EVENT LISTING HERE
