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  • © 2018

A Primer on Complex Systems

With Applications to Astrophysical and Laboratory Plasmas

  • Reveals the importance of "complexity" as a framework to understand the dynamics of many plasma systems, from the Sun to tokamak fusion plasmas
  • Introduces many practical techniques to detect and quantify complexity features
  • Enriched with many problems, case studies, appendices and over a hundred graphs and plots
  • No previous knowledge of complex systems, plasma physics or plasma turbulence required

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics (LNP, volume 943)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xx
  2. Characterization of Complex Systems

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Primer on Complex Systems

      • Raúl Sánchez, David Newman
      Pages 3-39
    3. Statistics

      • Raúl Sánchez, David Newman
      Pages 41-102
    4. Scale Invariance

      • Raúl Sánchez, David Newman
      Pages 103-175
    5. Memory

      • Raúl Sánchez, David Newman
      Pages 177-220
    6. Fundamentals of Fractional Transport

      • Raúl Sánchez, David Newman
      Pages 221-276
  3. Complex Dynamics in Magnetized Plasmas

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 277-277
    2. Space Plasmas: Complex Dynamics of the Active Sun

      • Raúl Sánchez, David Newman
      Pages 313-337
    3. Laboratory Plasmas: Dynamics of Transport Across Sheared Flows

      • Raúl Sánchez, David Newman
      Pages 381-400
  4. Back Matter

    Pages 401-404

About this book

The purpose of this book is to illustrate the fundamental concepts of complexity and complex behavior and the best methods to characterize this behavior by means of their applications to some current research topics from within the fields of fusion, earth and solar plasmas. In this sense, it is a departure from the many books already available that discuss general features of complexity. 

The book is divided in two parts. In the first part the most important properties and features of complex systems are introduced, discussed and illustrated. The second part discusses several instances of possible complex phenomena in magnetized plasmas and some of the analysis tools that were introduced in the first part are used to characterize the dynamics in these systems. A list of problems is proposed at the end of each chapter.


This book is intended for graduate and post-graduate students with a solid college background in mathematics and classical physics, who intend to work in the field of plasma physics and, in particular, plasma turbulence. It will also be of interest to senior scientists who have so far approached these systems and problems from a different perspective and want a new fresh angle. 


Authors and Affiliations

  • Departamento de Física, Grupo de Fusion, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Raúl Sánchez

  • Physics Department, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, USA

    David Newman

About the authors

Raul Sanchez is a full professor of Physics at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, SPAIN. He served as Vice-chancellor for Undergraduate Studies of this university from 2011 to 2015. Previously, he spent almost a decade at the Fusion Energy Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Tennessee, USA), first as a post-doctoral fellow (1998-99) and later as a senior staff scientist (2005-2011). During his more than twenty five years in research, he has authored more than a hundred refereed publications in the fields of nuclear fusion, plasma physics, turbulence, computational physics and complex systems. He was the recipient of the Spanish “Miguel Catalán” Science Award in 2009 for scientists younger than forty.

David Newman is a full professor of Physics at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, and the Director of the Center for Complex Studies there. He held the prestigious Eugene Wigner Fellowship at the Fusion Energy Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Tennessee, USA), where he was a staff scientist from 1993 to1998. During his more than thirty years in research, he has authored more than 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of complex systems, turbulence, plasma physics, nuclear fusion and electric power networks. He was the recipient of the US Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the US Department of Energy Young Scientist Award in 1997. He was selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2011.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access