Course Schedule & Materials
Lecture materials, readings, discussion topics, and other resources will be posted here
(click each week to expand for that week's materials)
(click each week to expand for that week's materials)
Note all topics are subject to change as we go!
Important dates
Quiz 1 - 09/22 during your discussion session time
Quiz 2 - 11/17 during your discussion session time
Project presentation - 12/01 during your discussion session time
Quiz 3 - 12/12 in AUD C AH from 1:30 to 3:30 PM
You can check the Google Calendar for this course using this link!
Module 1: Understanding the fundamental properties of complex systems
Week 1
What is a Complex System?
Emergence and self organization
the brain and consciousness • bird flocks and insect swarms • traffic jams
the brain and consciousness • bird flocks and insect swarms • traffic jams
Lecture materials
Lecture 1 slides - What Is a Complex System?
Lecture 2 slides - Emergence and Self-Organization
Traffic explorable: https://www.complexity-explorables.org/explorables/berlin-8-am/
Traffic simulation: https://traffic-simulation.de/
Pattern formation explorable: https://www.complexity-explorables.org/explorables/keith-harings-mexican-hat/
Discussion Materials
Homework (due Friday 09/08 at 5 PM)
Readings
Chapter 1, Complexity: A Guided Tour, by Melanie Mitchell (available online through the UM Library)
Additional Readings and Resources
Video on emergent collective behavior in animals
Science and Complexity, Warren Weaver, 1948 - introduces the ideas of organized and disorganized complexity
Complex Adaptive Systems, John H. Miller and Scott E. Page - Chapter 4, "On Emergence"
Week 2
Randomness
the stock market • gambling • lava lamps
the stock market • gambling • lava lamps
Power laws, heavy tailed distributions, black swan events
word frequency and Zipf’s Law • population sizes • neuronal avalanches • allometric scaling
word frequency and Zipf’s Law • population sizes • neuronal avalanches • allometric scaling
Lecture materials
Lecture 3 - Randomness
Lecture 4 - Power Laws, Heavy Tails, and Black Swans
Discussion Materials
Homework (due Friday 09/15 at 5 PM)
Readings
Randomness 101: LavaRand in Production
Additional Readings
Chris Ferrie, Bayesian Probability for Babies (and here’s a reading of it on YouTube if that’s easier)
Week 3
Nonlinearity
population growth • rich get richer • tensegrity • epidemics • homeostasis
population growth • rich get richer • tensegrity • epidemics • homeostasis
Introduction to dynamics
ecological systems • cancer • climate change • vegetation patterns
ecological systems • cancer • climate change • vegetation patterns
Lecture materials
Lecture 5 Slides - Nonlinearity and Equilibria
Lecture 6 Slides - Bifurcations and Tipping Points
Discussion Materials
Homework (due Monday 09/25 at 5 PM)
Readings
Huddling emperor penguins undergo phase transition - research paper and media highlight
Additional Readings
Chapter 2, Complexity: A Guided Tour, by Melanie Mitchell (available online through the UM Library)
Week 4-5
Networks and network metrics
human contact patterns • social media • airline networks • the internet • neuronal networks
human contact patterns • social media • airline networks • the internet • neuronal networks
Measures of Complexity
genetics • computers • information • entropy
genetics • computers • information • entropy
Lecture materials
Lecture 7 - Networks
Lecture 8 - Measures of Complexity
Discussion Materials
Quiz #1 on Friday September 22 in Discussion Section
Homework (due Monday 10/02 at 5 PM)
Readings
Aspirational pursuit of mates in online dating markets | Science Advances
Introduction Chapter, Networks: An Introduction, by Mark Newman (available online through the UM Library)
Additional Readings
When genes became information, Matthew Cobb
Power laws, Pareto distributions and Zipf's law, Mark Newman
Chapter 7, Complexity: A Guided Tour, by Melanie Mitchell (available online through the UM Library)
Module 2: Modeling complex systems
Week 5-6
Modeling intro
epidemics • unknown knowns • population growth
epidemics • unknown knowns • population growth
Agent-based modeling basics
forest fires • voting • video games • epidemics • swarming • traffic flow
Lecture materials
Lecture 9 - Modeling Introduction
Lecture 9.5 - Types of Models
Lecture 10 - Agent-Based Modeling
Discussion Materials
Homework (due Monday 10/09 at 11:59 PM)
Readings
Anderson, 1972. More is different.
Lazebnik, 2002. Can a biologist fix a radio?
Additional Readings
Rosenblueth and Wiener, 1945. The role of models in science.
Week 6
Cellular Automata
game of life • Wolfram's classification • patterns on lizard scales
Week 7
Dynamical systems, feedback loops, tipping points, bifurcations, pattern formation
R0/the basic reproduction number • species competition • drug pharmacokinetics
Lecture materials
Lecture 12 - Dynamical systems and bifurcations
Discussion materials
Homework (due Wednesday 10/18 at 11:59 PM)
Readings
Modelling song popularity as a contagious process - research paper and media highlight
Week 8
(Includes Fall Break)
Linking models & data
interventions and decision-making for infectious disease epidemics • multi-model approach to lung cancer screening
Lecture materials
Lecture 13 Slides - Linking Models and Data
Discussion materials
Homework (due Monday 10/23 at 11:59 PM)
Week 9
Chaos and fractals
weather dynamics • Romanesco broccoli • magnet pendulum • logistic map
Lecture materials
Lecture 14 - Chaos and Fractals
Discussion materials
Discussion Section Problems October 27
Readings
What is chaos? A complex systems scientist explains, Mitchell Newberry
The Joy of X Podcast: Amie Wilkinson Sees the Dynamic Chaos in Puff Pastry
Additional materials
"Fractals Are Typically Not Self-Similar" by 3Blue1Brown (YouTube video)
Bach and Cantor: Fractal Structure in the Cello Suite No. 3
Mathematics of scale: Big, small and everything in between, Mitchell Newberry
Homework (due Wednesday 11/01 at 11:59 PM)
Week 10
Network Simulation
small worlds • friendship dynamics • social networks
Neuroscience
coupled oscillators • emergent behavior and the brain • neurons as toilets!
Lecture materials
Lecture 15 - Network dynamics, generating networks
Lecture 16 - Neuroscience
Discussion materials
Discussion Section Problems Nov. 3
Readings
Chapter 15, The Science of Networks, Complexity: A Guided Tour, by Melanie Mitchell (available online through the UM Library)
Chapter 8, Self-Reproducing Computer Programs, Complexity: A Guided Tour, by Melanie Mitchell (available online through the UM Library)
Additional materials
Homework (due Monday 11/06 at 11:59 PM)
Week 11
Cooperation, decisions, game-theory
Pattern formation
Lecture Materials
Lecture 17 - Cooperation and Game Theory
Lecture 18 - Pattern formation
Discussion Section
Homework (due Monday 11/20 at 11:59 PM)
Week 12
Evolution and adaptation
Rankings and networks
Lecture Materials
Lecture 19 - evolution & adaptation
Lecture 20 - Ranking and Hierarchy
Discussion Section
Quiz #2 this week!
Additional Readings
Module 3: Complex systems modeling in practice
Week 13
(Includes Thanksgiving break)
Evolution and adaptation continued
Board games and video games as complex systems
Lecture Materials
Lecture 19 - evolution & adaptation
Lecture 20 - Board games & video games
Discussion Section
None due to Thanksgiving break!
Homework (due Wednesday 11/29 at 11:59 PM)
Week 14
Machine learning, AI, and Chat GPT
Lecture Materials
Lecture 21 - Machine learning and artificial intelligence
Additional Readings
The debate over understanding in AI’s large language models - Mitchell and Krakauer, 2023