The 1999 incarnation of
12.517 G(2) 309 Spring 1999
Simple Models of Complex Physical Systems.
Contacts: Prof. Dan Rothman and Peter Dodds
A twice-weekly meeting to discuss recent advances and develop new ideas in the understanding of networks as they appear in geomorphology, biology and other areas of science.
Interested students should register for 12.517, Simple Models of Complex Physical Systems. The first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 2nd in 54313 at 11 am. Unless there are conflicts, we will meet thereafter on Tuesdays and Thursday from 11 am to 12:30 pm.
Tentative list of topics and suggested references:
Biological networks and allometry.|
1. G.B. West, J.H. Brown and B.J. Enquist.
A General Model for the Origin of Allometric Scaling
Laws in Biology, Science, 1997, 276, April, 122126.
2. K. Schmidt-Nielsen, Scaling: Why is Animal Size So Important? 1984, Cambridge University Press. |
River networks and fluvial erosion.|
1. I. Rodriguez-Iturbe and A. Rinaldo.
Fractal River Basins: Chance and Self-Organization,
Cambridge University Press. 2. A. Maritan et al. Scaling laws for river networks, Physical Review E, 1996, 1510-1515, 53 (2) 3. P.S. Dodds and D.H. Rothman. A Unified View of Scaling Laws for River Networks, Phys Rev E, in press. |
Ecology.| B.J. Enquist, J.H. Brown and G.B West. Allometric scaling of plant energetics and population density. Nature, 1998, 395, 163-165. |
Networks in plant leaves.|
1. D.L. Turcotte, J.D. Pelletier, and W.I. Newman.
Networks with side branching in biology,
Journal of Theoretical Biology,
1998, 193, 577-592.
2. K.J. Niklas, Plant Allometry: The Scaling of Form and Process, U. Chicago Press, 1994. |
Small world networks.| D.J. Watts and S.J. Strogatz. Collective dynamics of `small-world' networks Nature, 1998, 393, 440-442. |
Other possible topics include networks in biological cells, metabolic networks,
and evolutionary trees.(return to education)