Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 226, 3185–3197 (2017)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2017-70094-x

Editorial

Challenges in the analysis of complex systems: introduction and overview

¹ Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington, MA, USA
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA
³ Complexity Science Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
⁴ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

^a e-mail: hhastings@simons-rock.edu

Received: 28 November 2017
Published online: 28 December 2017

Abstract

One of the main challenges of modern physics is to provide a systematic understanding of systems far from equilibrium exhibiting emergent behavior. Prominent examples of such complex systems include, but are not limited to the cardiac electrical system, the brain, the power grid, social systems, material failure and earthquakes, and the climate system. Due to the technological advances over the last decade, the amount of observations and data available to characterize complex systems and their dynamics, as well as the capability to process that data, has increased substantially. The present issue discusses a cross section of the current research on complex systems, with a focus on novel experimental and data-driven approaches to complex systems that provide the necessary platform to model the behavior of such systems.