Synergetics is an interdisciplinary science explaining the formation and
self-organization
Self-organization, also called spontaneous order in the social sciences, is a process where some form of overall order and disorder, order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. The process can be spont ...
of
patterns
A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...
and structures in
open systems far from
thermodynamic equilibrium
Thermodynamic equilibrium is a notion of thermodynamics with axiomatic status referring to an internal state of a single thermodynamic system, or a relation between several thermodynamic systems connected by more or less permeable or impermeable ...
. It is founded by
Hermann Haken, inspired by the
laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...
theory. Haken's interpretation of the laser principles as self-organization of
non-equilibrium systems paved the way at the end of the 1960s to the development of synergetics. One of his successful popular books is ''Erfolgsgeheimnisse der Natur'', translated into English as ''The Science of Structure: Synergetics''.
Self-organization requires a '
macroscopic
The macroscopic scale is the length scale on which objects or phenomena are large enough to be visible with the naked eye, without magnifying optical instruments. It is the opposite of microscopic.
Overview
When applied to physical phenome ...
'
system
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
, consisting of many nonlinearly interacting subsystems. Depending on the external control parameters (environment,
energy flux
Energy flux is the rate of transfer of energy through a surface. The quantity is defined in two different ways, depending on the context:
# Total rate of energy transfer (not per unit area); SI units: W = J⋅s−1.
# Specific rate of energy tran ...
es) self-organization takes place.
Order-parameter concept
Essential in synergetics is the order-parameter concept which was originally introduced in the
Ginzburg–Landau theory
In physics, Ginzburg–Landau theory, often called Landau–Ginzburg theory, named after Vitaly Ginzburg and Lev Landau, is a mathematical physical theory used to describe superconductivity. In its initial form, it was postulated as a phenomen ...
in order to describe
phase transition
In physics, chemistry, and other related fields like biology, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic Sta ...
s in
thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...
. The order parameter concept is generalized by Haken to the "enslaving-principle" saying that the dynamics of fast-relaxing (stable) modes is completely determined by the 'slow' dynamics of, as a rule, only a few 'order-parameters' (unstable modes). The order parameters can be interpreted as the amplitudes of the unstable modes determining the macroscopic pattern.
As a consequence, self-organization means an enormous reduction of
degrees of freedom
In many scientific fields, the degrees of freedom of a system is the number of parameters of the system that may vary independently. For example, a point in the plane has two degrees of freedom for translation: its two coordinates; a non-infinite ...
(entropy) of the system which macroscopically reveals an increase of '
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
' (pattern-formation). This far-reaching macroscopic order is independent of the details of the
microscopic
The microscopic scale () is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens or microscope to see them clearly. In physics, the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded as the scale betwe ...
interactions of the subsystems. This supposedly explains the
self-organization
Self-organization, also called spontaneous order in the social sciences, is a process where some form of overall order and disorder, order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. The process can be spont ...
of patterns in so many different systems in
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
, chemistry and biology.
See also
*
Effective field theory
In physics, an effective field theory is a type of approximation, or effective theory, for an underlying physical theory, such as a quantum field theory or a statistical mechanics model. An effective field theory includes the appropriate degrees ...
*
Josiah Willard Gibbs
Josiah Willard Gibbs (; February 11, 1839 – April 28, 1903) was an American mechanical engineer and scientist who made fundamental theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His work on the applications of thermodynami ...
*
Phase rule
In thermodynamics, the phase rule is a general principle governing multi-component, multi-phase systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. For a system without chemical reactions, it relates the number of freely varying intensive properties () to the ...
*
Free energy principle
*
Fokker–Planck equation
In statistical mechanics and information theory, the Fokker–Planck equation is a partial differential equation that describes the time evolution of the probability density function of the velocity of a particle under the influence of drag (physi ...
*
Ginzburg–Landau theory
In physics, Ginzburg–Landau theory, often called Landau–Ginzburg theory, named after Vitaly Ginzburg and Lev Landau, is a mathematical physical theory used to describe superconductivity. In its initial form, it was postulated as a phenomen ...
*
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...
*
Alexander Bogdanov
Alexander Aleksandrovich Bogdanov (; – 7 April 1928), born Alexander Malinovsky, was a Russian and later Soviet physician, philosopher, science fiction writer and Bolshevik revolutionary. He was a polymath who pioneered blood transfusion, a ...
*
Abiogenesis
Abiogenesis is the natural process by which life arises from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities on Earth was not a single even ...
References
*
*
*
*
* A. S. Mikhailov: ''Foundations of Synergetics I. Distributed active systems'' (2nd rev. ed. 1994). Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1990, .
* A. S. Mikhailov, A. Yu. Loskutov: ''Foundations of Synergetics II. Chaos and Noise'', 2nd revised and enlarged edition, Springer Series in Synergetics. Springer, Berlin — Heidelberg 1996 (erste Auflage 1991), .
* Norbert Niemeier "Organisatorischer Wandel aus der Sicht der Synergetik"; Deutscher Universitätsverlag, Wiesbaden, 2000,
* D.S. Chernavskii: "Синергетика и информация: Динамическая теория информации", 2-е изд. М.: УРСС.
External links
Homepage of the former Institute for Theoretical Physics and Synergetics (IFTPUS)
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