Computational and Statistical Physics Approaches for Complex Systems and Social Phenomena, 3rd Edition
A special issue of Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300). This special issue belongs to the section "Statistical Physics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2025 | Viewed by 2332
Special Issue Editors
Interests: theoretical physics with focus on critical phenomena and phase transitions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: statistical physics; environmental physics; polymers; entropy; mixing; hierarchical and fractal lattices; critical phenomena; phase transitions
Interests: public decision processes; consensus building; public participation; environment; sustainability; planning; public policy; negotiations; evaluation; dynamic modeling; regional spatial modeling; international and labor relations; negotiation pedagogy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Understanding social phenomena such politics, economics, social conflicts is challenging not least because these disciplines and domains share several properties of complex systems. They entail numerous interindependent agents interacting through dynamic processes characterized by uncertainty and unpredictability of outcomes, as well as difficulty linking causes to effects. Complex systems are nonlinear, and exhibit self-organization, adaptation, feedback loops, spontaneous order, and emergence. As a consequence, they give rise to “wicked problems”—unanticipated negative consequences of decisions—whose outcomes are difficult to analyze or predict with traditional, discipline-based methodologies. The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Profs. Giorgio Parisi, Suykuro Manabe, and Klaus Hasselmann for their “groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex systems” attests to the current focus and promise of methods for studying complexity.
The study of complex social systems requires interdisciplinary approaches, borrowing tools from statistical physics, information theory, and nonlinear dynamics, and applying them to sociology and economics. Statistical physics, in particular, can help overcome some of the obstacles to the study of complex social systems. Statistical physics computational methods have been used in disciplines other than physics, such as biology and neuroscience. By taking advantage of the extremely rapid increase in computational capacity, the applicability of these models has expanded to other social fields. These models have been used in such diverse fields as labor relations, communication through social media, politics, and social polarization. For instance, there have been efforts to apply statistical physics methods to understand and solve current problems such as the social polarization of societies.
For example, trend-based predictions are common in social sciences, and relying on the “all else being equal” linear methods cannot to effectively contend with complex systems. Their results are predictably wrong, except over very short time spans. Decisions based on such predictions are not particularly robust: any deviation of reality from assumptions can seriously undermine decisions based on them. Statistical physics models have been used instead to anticipate possible scenarios for the future. Anticipatory scenarios, increasingly applied in the fields of politics, business, and social and urban planning have enabled decision makers to develop robust strategies for responding to emerging problems, rather than make rigid plans bound to fail.
This Special Issue focuses on investigations of complex social systems using statistical physics simulation methods. These approaches are rooted in analogies between the behaviors of physics particles and the behaviors of human agents interacting in social spaces. We note that such analogies, seldom perfect, challenge the interpretation of physical parameters in terms of human behavior. This challenge is in need of further research.
We invite contributions to this Special Issue from researchers who study complex systems through the use of statistical physics computational methods, such as Monte Carlo simulations. The contributions may be original papers or reviews.
Prof. Dr. Hung T. Diep
Prof. Dr. Miron Kaufman
Prof. Dr. Sanda Kaufman
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Entropy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- social phenomena
- complex systems
- Monte Carlo simulations
- statistical physics
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
