Scientific Publishing Chaos: From Simple Models To Complex Systems: 17 (Series On Advances In Statistical Mechanics)

“This book is recommended for a first approach to chaos: the exposition is very clear and all notions are introduced relying on intuition and explained through examples and applications. 32 call-out boxes, interspersed throughout the main text, provide basic concepts and further details, which make the book accessible to virtually everyone.” Mathematical Reviews Chaos: from simple models to complex systems aims to guide science and engineering students through chaos and nonlinear dynamics from classical examples to the most recent fields of research. The first part, intended for undergraduate and graduate students, is a gentle and self-contained introduction to the concepts and main tools for the characterization of deterministic chaotic systems, with emphasis to statistical approaches. The second part can be used as a reference by researchers as it focuses on more advanced topics including the characterization of chaos with tools of information theory and applications encompassing fluid and celestial mechanics, chemistry and biology. The book is novel in devoting attention to a few topics often overlooked in introductory textbooks and which are usually found only in advanced surveys such as: information and algorithmic complexity theory applied to chaos and generalization of Lyapunov exponents to account for spatiotemporal and non-infinitesimal perturbations. The selection of topics, numerous illustrations, exercises and proposals for computer experiments make the book ideal for both introductory and advanced courses.