Jean M. Carlson

Last updated
Jean Marie Carlson
Born1962 (age 58–59)
Alma mater Princeton University
Cornell University
Known for Complexity
Scientific career
Institutions University of California, Santa Barbara

Jean Marie Carlson (born 1962) is a Professor of Complexity at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She studies robustness and feedback in highly connected complex systems, which have applications in a variety of areas including earthquakes, wildfires and neuroscience.

Contents

Early life and education

Carlson studied electrical engineering and computer science at Princeton University and graduated in 1984. She moved to Cornell University for her graduate studies, earning a master's in applied physics 1987. In 1987 she switched to theoretical condensed matter physics for her doctoral studies and completed her PhD in 1988. She worked under the supervision of James Sethna on the spin glass model in the Bethe Lattice. [1] Carlson worked in the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics as a postdoctoral scholar with James S. Langer. [2] [3]

Research and career

Carlson was appointed to the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1990. She works on the fundamental theory and applications of complex systems. [4] [5] She was awarded a David and Lucile Packard Foundation fellowship in 1993, which allowed her to study the physical and mathematical principles that underlie complexity. [6] Carlson uses highly optimized tolerance (HOT) methods that connect evolving structure with power laws in highly interconnected systems. [7] [8] [9] Carlson developed the HOT mechanism in the early 2000s, and has since applied it to complex systems including the immune system, earthquakes, wildfires and neuroscience. HOT represents a unifying framework that can couple with external environments, which differs from self-organized criticality and the edge of chaos. [7]

Carlson has used computational systems biology to understand the immune system. [10] She studies how the immune system changes with age, as well as autoimmune disease and homeostasis. [10] Carlson worked with Eric Jones to develop a mathematical model that can analyse and predict interactions in the gut bacteria of fruit flies. It is hoped that this model will be able to explain the human gut microbiome. [11] Their model demonstrated that the interaction between bacteria in the gut are as important to the overall health of a fruit fly as their presence in the gut. [11]

She has also applied complexity theory to neuroscience, identifying the properties of neural networks that are protected in the healthy population. [12] Understanding these networks could explain the connection between the structure of white matter and cognitive function. [12] Carlson looks to explain how neural networks are involved with learning and memory, by comparing them to computational and biological information processing structures. [12] Carlson is particularly interested in sequential learning; which combines new information with previous knowledge. [12] Her work combines computational models with experimental data from electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging. [12] She demonstrated that the parts of the brain that synchronise their activity during memory-related tasks become smaller but more numerous as people age. [13]

The application of statistical mechanics to materials science could help to describe the characteristics of granular materials. [14] She applies shear transformation zone theory to granular material to describe how they flow and jam. [14] This work contributes to her studies of friction in earthquake faults, rate-and-state laws and rheological chaos. [15] [16] Carlson has studied complexity in several areas of earthquake physics, including dynamic rupture and supershear. [17] She developed an algorithm (Highly Optimized Tolerance Fire Spread Model, HFire) that can model the spread of a wildfire, which can be used to understand the longterm evolution of forest ecosystems and helping to coordinate forest management. She has investigated human decision-making in disaster response, in an effort to make evacuations more safe and effective. [18] She has investigated the tradeoffs that arise in wildfire response, using models of the economy, populations and fire spread. [18] This requires dynamic decision tools, as time delays can result in more fires and demand for resources. [18] She has also studied how information networks impact decisions, and the relationship between information dissemination and social sharing. [18]

Carlson has also applied complexity theory to econophysics, [19] evolution [20] and control theory. [21] She holds visiting Professorships at Santa Fe Institute. [22]

Recognition

Carlson was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2021, after a nomination from the APS Topical Group on Statistical and Nonlinear Physics, "for the development of mathematically rigorous, physics-based models of nonlinear and complex systems that have significantly impacted a broad range of fields including neuroscience, environmental science, and geophysics". [23]

Related Research Articles

A mathematical model is a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed mathematical modeling. Mathematical models are used in the natural sciences and engineering disciplines, as well as in non-physical systems such as the social sciences. The use of mathematical models to solve problems in business or military operations is a large part of the field of operations research. Mathematical models are also used in music, linguistics, philosophy, and religion.

Complex system System composed of many interacting components

A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication systems, social and economic organizations, an ecosystem, a living cell, and ultimately the entire universe.

Circuit may refer to:

University of California, Santa Barbara Public university in Santa Barbara, California

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara-Isla Vista, California. It is part of the University of California system. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers' college, UCSB joined the University of California system in 1944, and is the third-oldest undergraduate campus in the system, after UC Berkeley and UCLA.

Santa Fe Institute nonprofit theoretical research institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, including physical, computational, biological, and social systems. The Institute is ranked 24th among the world's "Top Science and Technology Think Tanks" and 24th among the world's "Best Transdisciplinary Research Think Tanks" according to the 2020 edition of the Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports, published annually by the University of Pennsylvania.

Econophysics is a heterodox interdisciplinary research field, applying theories and methods originally developed by physicists in order to solve problems in economics, usually those including uncertainty or stochastic processes and nonlinear dynamics. Some of its application to the study of financial markets has also been termed statistical finance referring to its roots in statistical physics. Econophysics is closely related to social physics.

Self-organized criticality Concept in physics

Self-organized criticality (SOC) is a property of dynamical systems that have a critical point as an attractor. Their macroscopic behavior thus displays the spatial or temporal scale-invariance characteristic of the critical point of a phase transition, but without the need to tune control parameters to a precise value, because the system, effectively, tunes itself as it evolves towards criticality.

Dynamical systems theory Area of mathematics used to describe the behavior of complex dynamical systems, usually by employing differential equations or difference equations

Dynamical systems theory is an area of mathematics used to describe the behavior of complex dynamical systems, usually by employing differential equations or difference equations. When differential equations are employed, the theory is called continuous dynamical systems. From a physical point of view, continuous dynamical systems is a generalization of classical mechanics, a generalization where the equations of motion are postulated directly and are not constrained to be Euler–Lagrange equations of a least action principle. When difference equations are employed, the theory is called discrete dynamical systems. When the time variable runs over a set that is discrete over some intervals and continuous over other intervals or is any arbitrary time-set such as a Cantor set, one gets dynamic equations on time scales. Some situations may also be modeled by mixed operators, such as differential-difference equations.

Database theory encapsulates a broad range of topics related to the study and research of the theoretical realm of databases and database management systems.

In applied mathematics, highly optimized tolerance (HOT) is a method of generating power law behavior in systems by including a global optimization principle. It was developed by Jean M. Carlson in the early 2000s. For some systems that display a characteristic scale, a global optimization term could potentially be added that would then yield power law behavior. It has been used to generate and describe internet-like graphs, forest fire models and may also apply to biological systems.

Extremal optimization (EO) is an optimization heuristic inspired by the Bak–Sneppen model of self-organized criticality from the field of statistical physics. This heuristic was designed initially to address combinatorial optimization problems such as the travelling salesman problem and spin glasses, although the technique has been demonstrated to function in optimization domains.

Scott Aaronson American scientist, working on the field of quantum computing

Scott Joel Aaronson is an American theoretical computer scientist and David J. Bruton Jr. Centennial Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin. His primary areas of research are quantum computing and computational complexity theory.

Hyunjune Sebastian Seung is an American physicist working in theoretical and computational neuroscience and neurocomputing. He has helped pioneer the new field of connectomics, "developing new computational technologies for mapping the connections between neurons," and has been described as the cartographer of the brain.

Jean-Philippe Bouchaud is a French physicist. He is founder and Chairman of Capital Fund Management (CFM), professor of physics at École polytechnique and co-director of the CFM-Imperial Institute of Quantitative Finance at Imperial College London. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences.

The fractal catalytic model - proposed by Christopher James Davia and adopted in the research of Carnegie Mellon University Professor of Psychology Patricia Carpenter - is a “theory of cognition grounded in metabolism” which identifies enzymatic catalysis as a “prototypical process” applying at all levels of scale in biological organisms.

Dean Rickles is Professor of History and Philosophy of Modern Physics at the University of Sydney and a Director of the Sydney Centre for Time.

Joseph Incandela is an American particle physicist, a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara and currently based at CERN, where he spent two years as the spokesperson for the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the Large Hadron Collider.

Janet Franklin is an American geographer, botanist, and landscape ecologist. Her work is centered on the use of remote sensing to model and understand vegetated landscapes. She is currently a Distinguished Professor of Biogeography in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at the University of California Riverside.

M. Cristina Marchetti American physicist

Maria Cristina Marchetti is an Italian-born, American theoretical physicist specializing in statistical physics and condensed matter physics. In 2019, she received the Leo P. Kadanoff Prize of the American Physical Society. She held the William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professorship of Physics at Syracuse University, where she was the director of the Soft and Living Matter program, and chaired the department 2007-2010. She is currently Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

References

  1. ↑ Carlson, Jean Marie (1988). "Critical Properties of the Bethe Lattice Spin Glass". Ph.D. Thesis. Bibcode:1988PhDT.......102C.
  2. ↑ "Langer, James S." history.aip.org. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  3. ↑ "Former Members | James Sethna". sethna.lassp.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  4. ↑ "Jean M Carlson | www.icb.ucsb.edu". www.icb.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  5. ↑ "BRI: UCSB". brainucsb.herokuapp.com. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  6. ↑ "Carlson, Jean M." The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  7. 1 2 "Highly Optimized Tolerance". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  8. ↑ Carlson, null; Doyle, null (2000-03-13). "Highly optimized tolerance: robustness and design in complex systems" (PDF). Physical Review Letters. 84 (11): 2529–2532. Bibcode:2000PhRvL..84.2529C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2529. ISSN   1079-7114. PMID   11018927.
  9. ↑ "Networks". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  10. 1 2 "Untitled Document". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  11. 1 2 News, Neuroscience (2018-12-05). "Modeling the Microbiome". Neuroscience News. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Neuroscience". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  13. ↑ News, Neuroscience (2016-11-23). "Missed Connections: Memory Related Brain Activity Loses Cohesion As We Age". Neuroscience News. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  14. 1 2 "Granular Materials". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  15. ↑ "Constitutive Laws". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  16. ↑ "NSF Award Search: Award#0606092 - Friction, Fatigue and Failure: a Multiscale Approach Linking Physics, Fabrication and Geophysical Phenomena". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  17. ↑ "Earthquakes". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "Disaster". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  19. ↑ "Econophysics". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  20. ↑ "Ecology and Forest Fires". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  21. ↑ "Control theory". web.physics.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  22. ↑ "Jean Carlson | Santa Fe Institute". www.santafe.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  23. ↑ "Fellows nominated in 2021 by the Topical Group on Statistical and Nonlinear Physics". APS Fellows archive. American Physical Society. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.