College of Science and Engineering School of Physics & Astronomy invites you to attend the Inaugural Lecture, Chaired by the Head of College, Professor Iain Gordon,

“What are the physical rules that govern our complex irreversible world?”

given by Professor Richard Blythe Chair of Complex Systems.

Statistical physicists want to know how structures and patterns in complex systems emerge from the interactions between component parts. Particularly vexing are the large-scale consequences of irreversible driving at the microscopic scale. This is frustrating as such driving forces are everywhere: in industrial manufacturing processes, in organisms as they consume energy to generate motion, and in more virtual world of human social behaviour as it is acquired through learning. In this talk, I will survey two basic methods for discovering the rules that govern irreversible dynamical systems. First, one can set up some rules and see how they play out. For a model system of aligning particles, I will show that the characteristic turning behaviour of bird flocks can arise through irreversible changes in the scale of fluctuations. Alternatively, one can attempt to infer which of a large set of possible rules is most compatible with some observed data. Through this technique, I will uncover how individual speakers have caused their languages to change over historical time periods. I will conclude with some prospects for future research.

James Clerk Maxwell Building, Lecture Theatre A, The King’s Buildings

Thursday 1st December 2022 at 5:15 p.m.

Followed by a reception in the foyer.

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Prof Richard Blythe Inaugural Lecture