Simulations & Chaos

How do systems behave? By modelling real world processes, how can simple rules create complex & even chaotic behaviour?

Sounds abstract? Here’s an example:

Population growth (cell/animal/human) depends on birth & death rates, food, space, predators, and so on. Unlimited growth can’t go on forever: sooner or later you run out of food/space. You can program your own population growth simulations using simple software models, experiment with growth rules, and see typical (sometimes chaotic) behaviour.

Graphs & maps of chaotic behaviour (fractals) are often beautiful. The shape of plants and animals is frequently determined by growth processes which you can simulate – grow your own tree or snowflake! You can also examine the "butterfly-effect" – systems (like weather) extremely sensitive to initial conditions.

Let’s get started:

  1. Look at "Calculator Chaos" for a simple introduction.
  2. Investigate simple models of "Population Growth".
  3. Look for chaos in the swing of "Pendulums".
  4. Use StarLogo to simulate rabbits in "Growth & Form".
  5. Simulate brains using "Neurons".

Topics 2 & 3 contain quite a lot of tutorial material; 4 & 5 are more open-ended starting points for your own investigations.

The idea behind each topic is to take inspiration from the real world, construct simple simulations, investigate how they behave, and draw conclusions (which might be applied to the real world, or used to refine the simulation).

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