Abstract
In the previous chapter we have learned about non-linear systems, especially about deterministic chaos. Irregular fluctuations turned out to be the fingerprint of deterministic chaos. However, although fluctuations are ubiquitous in many natural phenomena, nature is obviously not completely irregular. Otherwise, phenomena involving a certain degree of order, such as life, would be impossible. From this point of view, nature often seems to be somewhere between chaos and order. Complexity has become the magic word in this context, but let us refrain from trying giving a precise definition of complexity. Let us, instead, recapitulate which of the topics discussed in the previous chapters may fit into this context.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hergarten, S. (2002). Self-Organized Criticality. In: Self-Organized Criticality in Earth Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04390-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04390-5_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-07790-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04390-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive