Carleton University
Technical Report TR-96-30
November 1996
Compositional complexity in dynamical systems
Frederic Geurts
Abstract
We propose a compositional characterization of complex behaviors, i.e. a way to generate complexity based on the structural composition of systems. A homomorphism between composition operators and composition of dynamical properties of systems is established, which allows us to analyze classical (Smale horseshoe map, Cantor relation), formal (paperfolding sequences) and spatially extended systems (cellular automata). This paper presents applications of the composition principle in an informal way, emphasizing the qualitative aspects of the approach.