Instability and Information
Title | Instability and Information |
Publication Type | Thesis |
Year of Publication | 2014 |
Authors | Patzelt, F |
Academic Department | Institute for Theoretical Physics, Dept. of Neuropysics |
Degree | Dr. rer. nat. |
University | University of Bremen |
Thesis Type | PhD |
Other Numbers | arXiv:1511.03732 |
Abstract | Many complex systems exhibit extreme events far more often than expected for a normal distribution. This work examines how self-similar bursts of activity across several orders of magnitude can emerge from first principles in systems that adapt to information. Surprising connections are found between two apparently unrelated research topics: hand-eye coordination in balancing tasks and speculative trading in financial markets. Seemingly paradoxically, locally minimising fluctuations can increase a dynamical system's sensitivity to unpredictable perturbations and thereby facilitate global catastrophes. This general principle is studied in several domain-specific models and in behavioural experiments. It explains many findings in both fields and resolves an apparent antinomy: the coexistence of stabilising control or market efficiency and perpetual instabilities resembling critical phenomena in physical systems. |
URL | http://arxiv.org/abs/1511.03732 |