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"Complexity theorists"?



Are you asking what a complexity theorist is, or are you asking why the title uses the term despite the fact that the article text introduces the researchers as physicists?


I was asking why they're using that term despite this having nothing to do with computational complexity.

Looking it up this is apparently also a recognized use of the term and so my question was a bit dumb.


It's basically an umbrella term for studying systems that are complex in the sense that they have strange nonlinear effects and may not be "well-behaved" in the way that classical, mathematically well-understood systems are. A large portion of it grew out of chaos theory, though some has gone in other directions since then.


Physics PhD who did his research in complex systems (how sand supports weight)...

Usually these complex systems consist of parts where the individual interactions are thought to be well understood but the aggregate behavior is not (aka non-linear).

In the case of sand, you can pretty much model the forces acting on a single grain/particle using intro physics but you wouldn't expect the long-range force chains you see in static piles or avalanches when more sand is added.




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