A rich variety of real-life physical problems which are still poorly understood are of a nonlinear nature. Examples include turbulence, granular flows, detonations and flame propagation, fracture dynamics, and a wealth of new biological and chemical phenomena which are being discovered. Particularly interesting among the manifestations of nonlinearity are coherent structures. This book contains reviews and contributions reporting on the state of the art regarding the role of coherent structures and patterns in nonlinear science.

A rich variety of real-life physical problems which are still poorly understood are of a nonlinear nature. Examples include turbulence, granular flows, detonations and flame propagation, fracture dynamics, and a wealth of new biological and chemical phenomena which are being discovered. Particularly interesting among the manifestations of nonlinearity are coherent structures. This book contains reviews and contributions reporting on the state of the art regarding the role of coherent structures and patterns in nonlinear science.

A rich variety of real-life physical problems which are still poorly understood are of a nonlinear nature. Examples include turbulence, granular flows, detonations and flame propagation, fracture dynamics, and a wealth of new biological and chemical phenomena which are being discovered. Particularly interesting among the manifestations of nonlinearity are coherent structures. This book contains reviews and contributions reporting on the state of the art regarding the role of coherent structures and patterns in nonlinear science.

A system is loosely defined as complex if it is composed of a large number of elements, interacting with each other, and the emergent global dynamics is qualitatively different from the dynamics of each one of the parts. The global dynamics may be either ordered or chaotic and among the most interesting emergent global properties are those of learning and adaptation.Complex systems, in the above sense, appear in many fields ranging from physics and technology to life and social sciences. Research in complex systems involves therefore a wide range of topics, studied in seemingly disparate fields. This calls for some effort to develop general principles and a common language so that tools developed in one field may be put to use in other fields.By collecting a few surveys of complex systems studies in physics and in technology and emphasizing their common mechanisms and interrelationships, this book attempts to contribute to the development of a common language in the sciences of complexity.Topics covered include: Integrated design in aeronautics; time and space decomposition of complex structures; complexity in electrical power networks; earthquake behaviour of structures; signal processing; fiability; use of unstable orbits in astrodynamics; dynamics of coupled oscillators; fuzziness; dark and bright solitons; neural networks; chaos and parametric perturbations; chaotic fluid dynamics; early vision and image restoration; stochastic processes in automated production lines.

This book is based on the lectures delivered at the 19th Canberra International Physics Summer School held at the Australian National University in Canberra (Australia) in January 2006.The problem of turbulence and coherent structures is of key importance in many fields of science and engineering. It is an area which is vigorously researched across a diverse range of disciplines such as theoretical physics, oceanography, atmospheric science, magnetically confined plasma, nonlinear optics, etc. Modern studies in turbulence and coherent structures are based on a variety of theoretical concepts, numerical simulation techniques and experimental methods, which cannot be reviewed effectively by a single expert.The main goal of these lecture notes is to introduce state-of-the-art turbulence research in a variety of approaches (theoretical, numerical simulations and experiments) and applications (fluids, plasmas, geophysics, nonlinear optical media) by several experts. A smooth introduction is presented to readers who are not familiar with the field, while reviewing the most recent advances in the area. This collection of lectures will provide a useful review for both postgraduate students and researchers new to the advancements in this field, as well as specialists seeking to expand their knowledge across different areas of turbulence research.

Coherence, connectivity and the fitting together of smaller parts into larger structures and a coherent whole is the hallmark of complex biologically-based systems. As a structure-internal constraint, coherence makes it possible for the parts to work together as a whole. As an external constraint, it lets complex system evolve and adapt to novel contexts. As a constraint on information processing, it makes new knowledge accessible to the maturing, learning or evolving mind-brain. As a constraint on cultures, it enables members of social groups to be empathic and cooperative. As a constraint on language and communication, lastly, it allows the mind of speakers to be accessible to the mind of hearers. Part I explores first the role of coherence in the evolution of complex biological design, from precellular to mono-cellular to multi-cellular to multi-organ sentient beings. The complex hierarchic design of the mind-brain is explored next, probing the coherent organization of major brain systems—perception, attention, motor control, memory and language. In surveying the coherence of cultures next, the first-evolved Society of Intimates is viewed as the model for social cohesion, empathy, trust and cooperation. Part II deals with language and communication, touching upon the coherent organization of semantic memory, event clauses and clause chains, and the central role of grammar in coherent communication. Part III deals with three general issues. First, the role of coherence in organized science. Second, the eternal seesaw of selfish vs. social motivation in coherently functioning cultures. And last, the frail balance between homogeneity diversity in large-scale Societies of Strangers.

A computer program is described that permits the calculation of the exact reliability of complex systems. The concept of a 'Coherent Structure' is used to represent the system as a two terminal network. This thesis describes the data structures and algorithms needed to take the two terminal network, produce the proper arithmetic expression, and do an evaluation to find an exact reliability. (Author).