The Statistical Physics of Fixation and Equilibration in Individual-Based Models

The Statistical Physics of Fixation and Equilibration in Individual-Based Models
Author: Peter Ashcroft
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2016-07-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319412132

This thesis explores several interdisciplinary topics at the border of theoretical physics and biology, presenting results that demonstrate the power of methods from statistical physics when applied to neighbouring disciplines. From birth-death processes in switching environments to discussions on the meaning of quasi-potential landscapes in high-dimensional spaces, this thesis is a shining example of the efficacy of interdisciplinary research. The fields advanced in this work include game theory, the dynamics of cancer, and invasion of mutants in resident populations, as well as general contributions to the theory of stochastic processes. The background material provides an intuitive introduction to the theory and applications of stochastic population dynamics, and the use of techniques from statistical physics in their analysis. The thesis then builds on these foundations to address problems motivated by biological phenomena.

Biological Evolution and Statistical Physics

Biological Evolution and Statistical Physics
Author: M. Lässig
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2008-01-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3540456929

This set of lecture notes gives a first coherent account of a novel aspect of the living world that can be called biological information. The book presents both a pedagogical and state-of-the art roadmap of this rapidly evolving area and covers the whole field, from information which is encoded in the molecular genetic code to the description of large-scale evolution of complex species networks. The book will prove useful for all those who work at the interface of biology, physics and information science.

Foundations of Complex-system Theories

Foundations of Complex-system Theories
Author: Sunny Y. Auyang
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 422
Release: 1998
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521778268

Analyzes approaches to the study of complexity in the physical, biological, and social sciences.

From Individualism to the Individual

From Individualism to the Individual
Author: George M. Frankfurter
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 510
Release: 2018-01-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351744550

This title was first published in 2002: From Individualism to the Individual treats finance as a social and cultural process, exploring the unseen side of academic discourse and the many obstacles the deeply entrenched elite puts in the way of alternative thinking. Opening with a detailed discussion of the role of ideology in the perpetuation of the limited methodological bias of the profession toward markets, the book then examines the more specific effects of such ideological limitations on theoretical and empirical research in finance. The authors develop alternative ways to examine finance both as a profession and as a field of inquiry. This book will be of particular value to researchers and practitioners working in finance, as well as those in other social science disciplines whose research relates to finance, culture and society.

Sustainability Assessments of Urban Systems

Sustainability Assessments of Urban Systems
Author: Claudia R. Binder
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 523
Release: 2020-03-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 110847179X

Provides guidelines for assessing the sustainability of urban systems including theory, methods and case studies.

The Physics of Foraging

The Physics of Foraging
Author: Gandhimohan. M. Viswanathan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2011-06-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1139497553

Do the movements of animals, including humans, follow patterns that can be described quantitatively by simple laws of motion? If so, then why? These questions have attracted the attention of scientists in many disciplines, and stimulated debates ranging from ecological matters to queries such as 'how can there be free will if one follows a law of motion?' This is the first book on this rapidly evolving subject, introducing random searches and foraging in a way that can be understood by readers without a previous background on the subject. It reviews theory as well as experiment, addresses open problems and perspectives, and discusses applications ranging from the colonization of Madagascar by Austronesians to the diffusion of genetically modified crops. The book will interest physicists working in the field of anomalous diffusion and movement ecology as well as ecologists already familiar with the concepts and methods of statistical physics.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Methodology
Author: Herman Cappelen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 769
Release: 2016
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199668779

This is the most comprehensive book ever published on philosophical methodology. A team of thirty-eight of the world's leading philosophers present original essays on various aspects of how philosophy should be and is done. The first part is devoted to broad traditions and approaches to philosophical methodology (including logical empiricism, phenomenology, and ordinary language philosophy). The entries in the second part address topics in philosophical methodology, such as intuitions, conceptual analysis, and transcendental arguments. The third part of the book is devoted to essays about the interconnections between philosophy and neighbouring fields, including those of mathematics, psychology, literature and film, and neuroscience.

Rethinking Human Evolution

Rethinking Human Evolution
Author: Jeffrey H. Schwartz
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2022-11-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0262546744

Contributors from a range of disciplines consider the disconnect between human evolutionary studies and the rest of evolutionary biology. The study of human evolution often seems to rely on scenarios and received wisdom rather than theory and methodology, with each new fossil or molecular analysis interpreted as supporting evidence for the presumed lineage of human ancestry. We might wonder why we should pursue new inquiries if we already know the story. Is paleoanthropology an evolutionary science? Are analyses of human evolution biological? In this volume, contributors from disciplines that range from paleoanthropology to philosophy of science consider the disconnect between human evolutionary studies and the rest of evolutionary biology. All of the contributors reflect on their own research and its disciplinary context, considering how their fields of inquiry can move forward in new ways. The goal is to encourage a more multifaceted intellectual environment for the understanding of human evolution. Topics discussed include paleoanthropology's history of procedural idiosyncrasies; the role of mind and society in our evolutionary past; humans as large mammals rather than a special case; genomic analyses; computational approaches to phylogenetic reconstruction; descriptive morphology versus morphometrics; and integrating insights from archaeology into the interpretation of human fossils. Contributors Markus Bastir, Fred L. Bookstein, Claudine Cohen, Richard G. Delisle, Robin Dennell, Rob DeSalle, John de Vos, Emma M. Finestone, Huw S. Groucutt, Gabriele A. Macho, Fabrizzio Mc Manus, Apurva Narechania, Michael D. Petraglia, Thomas W. Plummer, J.W. F. Reumer, Jeff Rosenfeld, Jeffrey H. Schwartz, Dietrich Stout, Ian Tattersall, Alan R. Templeton, Michael Tessler, Peter J. Waddell, Martine Zilversmit