Evolution of Dynamical Structures in Complex Systems: Proceedings of the International Symposium Stuttgart, July 16-17, 1992

This book contains review articles surveying the wide range of applications of synergetics to complex systems of physical, chemical and biological origin. Leading scientists in each of these fields describe how the mathematical tools of synergetics and the paradigm of self-organization have led to important advances in fields as diverse as laser instabilities, pattern formation in fluids, psychology and artificial life to name but a few.

"Evolution of Dynamical Structures in Complex Systems" is dedicated to the founder of synergetics, Hermann Haken, on the occasion of his 65th birthday. This volume is an attempt to gather together and review the new results and de- velopments achieved by researchers from various fields during the last few years. The contents bear witness to the great success in the development of general approaches to synergetic systems as well as remarkable progress in the more tra- ditional fields of synergetics such as lasers and nonlinear optics, hydrodynamics, condensed matter physics, biology, and sociology. Since their inception, the concepts of synergetics and rigorous mathematical theories have been extended to other scientific disciplines such as medicine, artifi- cial intelligence and synergetic computers, and psychology. Here too, these ideas have yielded new insights, raised unexpected questions and produced innovations in both theoretical and experimental projects. The conception of self-organization, the central theme of Hermann Haken' s scientific work, has stimulated epistemo- logical studies that draw relations between synergetics and the German romantic "Naturphilosophie." It is fascinating to observe how these intuitive notions of self-organization, etc., have now evolved into a precise and holistic scientific comprehension of synergetic systems. We express our deep gratitude to Dr. Angela Lahee from Springer-Verlag for her valuable help during the preparation of this book. Stuttgart R. Frjedrjch March 1992 .4.. Wunder}jn Contents Part I General Approaches On the Principles of Synergetics By A. Wunderlin ...................................... 3 Elements of a Synergetics of Evolutionary Processes By W. Ebeling ......................... . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 42 .