CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en-us" /> <title>Complex Systems</title> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org' /> <script type="text/javascript"> window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/2.2.1\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/2.2.1\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/www.complex-systems.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js"}}; !function(a,b,c){function d(a){var b,c,d,e,f=String.fromCharCode;if(!k||!k.fillText)return!1;switch(k.clearRect(0,0,j.width,j.height),k.textBaseline="top",k.font="600 32px Arial",a){case"flag":return k.fillText(f(55356,56826,55356,56819),0,0),!(j.toDataURL().length<3e3)&&(k.clearRect(0,0,j.width,j.height),k.fillText(f(55356,57331,65039,8205,55356,57096),0,0),b=j.toDataURL(),k.clearRect(0,0,j.width,j.height),k.fillText(f(55356,57331,55356,57096),0,0),c=j.toDataURL(),b!==c);case"emoji4":return k.fillText(f(55357,56425,55356,57341,8205,55357,56507),0,0),d=j.toDataURL(),k.clearRect(0,0,j.width,j.height),k.fillText(f(55357,56425,55356,57341,55357,56507),0,0),e=j.toDataURL(),d!==e}return!1}function e(a){var c=b.createElement("script");c.src=a,c.defer=c.type="text/javascript",b.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(c)}var f,g,h,i,j=b.createElement("canvas"),k=j.getContext&&j.getContext("2d");for(i=Array("flag","emoji4"),c.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},h=0;h<i.length;h++)c.supports[i[h]]=d(i[h]),c.supports.everything=c.supports.everything&&c.supports[i[h]],"flag"!==i[h]&&(c.supports.everythingExceptFlag=c.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&c.supports[i[h]]);c.supports.everythingExceptFlag=c.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!c.supports.flag,c.DOMReady=!1,c.readyCallback=function(){c.DOMReady=!0},c.supports.everything||(g=function(){c.readyCallback()},b.addEventListener?(b.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",g,!1),a.addEventListener("load",g,!1)):(a.attachEvent("onload",g),b.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",function(){"complete"===b.readyState&&c.readyCallback()})),f=c.source||{},f.concatemoji?e(f.concatemoji):f.wpemoji&&f.twemoji&&(e(f.twemoji),e(f.wpemoji)))}(window,document,window._wpemojiSettings); </script> <style type="text/css"> img.wp-smiley, img.emoji { display: inline !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; height: 1em !important; width: 1em !important; margin: 0 .07em !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; background: none !important; padding: 0 !important; } </style> <link rel='https://api.w.org/' href='https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-json/' /> <link rel="wlwmanifest" type="application/wlwmanifest+xml" href="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-includes/wlwmanifest.xml" /> <link rel='shortlink' href='https://www.complex-systems.com/' /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/json+oembed" href="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex-systems.com%2F" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/xml+oembed" href="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex-systems.com%2F&format=xml" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/common/css/reset.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-content/themes/complexsystems/style.css"> <script src="/common/javascript/jquery/core/1.8.3/jquery.min.js"></script> <script src="//www.wolframcdn.com/consent/cookie-consent.js"></script> <script src="/common/javascript/wal/latest/walLoad.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id="home"> <div class="psWrapper"> <div class="psContent" id="main"> <ul class="navList fLeft"> <li><a href="/" title="Home" class="home">Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/about/" title="About" class="about">About</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/archives/" title="Archives" class="archives">Archives</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/subscribe/" title="Subscribe" class="subscribe">Subscribe</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/contribute/" title="Contribute" class="contribute">Contribute</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/current/" title="Current Issue" class="current">Current Issue</a></li> <li><a href="mailto:info@complex-systems.com" title="Contact" class="contact">Contact</a></li> </ul> <script type="text/javascript"> $(document).ready(function() { // top search bar var topquery_default = 'search'; $('#query-top').bind('focus', function() { if(this.value === topquery_default) { this.value = ''; $(this).removeClass('placeholder'); } }); $('#query-top').bind('blur', function() { if(this.value === '') { this.value = topquery_default; $(this).addClass('placeholder'); } else if (this.value === topquery_default) { $(this).addClass('placeholder'); } else { $(this).removeClass('placeholder'); } }); $('#query-top').trigger('blur'); }); </script> <div class="fRight"> <form id="search_cs" method="get" action="https://search.wolfram.com/"> <div class="txSmall"> <input type="hidden" name="lang" value="en"> <input type="hidden" name="collection" value="complex_systems"> <input type="text" id="query-top" name="query" value="search" class="searchSite placeholder"> <input type="submit" value="禄" class="searchSubmit"> </div> </form> </div> <div class="logoBig"> <img src="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-content/themes/complexsystems/img/ui_logo.png" alt="Complex Systems" title="Complex Systems" width="370" height="54" /> </div> <div class="psCol400 fLeft"> <p class="txLarge"><span class="txHighlight"><a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/about/" title="About" class="home">Founded by Stephen Wolfram in 1987 »</a></span><br />The original journal devoted to the science, mathematics and engineering of systems with simple components but complex overall behavior.</p> <div> <img src="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-content/themes/complexsystems/img/ribbon.png" alt="Ribbon" title="Ribbon" width="48" height="51" style="margin-left: -49px; float: left;" /> <img src="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-content/themes/complexsystems/img/title_announce.png" alt="We are pleased to announce that..." title="We are pleased to announce that..." width="301" height="31" style="margin-left: -4px;" /> <p><em>Complex Systems</em> journal is included in the Web of Science (Clarivate) 2023 Journal Citation Reports with an Impact Factor of 1.2, ranking 11th in the category "Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Application - ESCI" and 5th by total citations.</p> </div> <a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/archives/" title="Archives" class="home"><img src="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-content/themes/complexsystems/img/title_home_archives.png" alt="Full Archives 1987–Present" title="Full Archives 1987–Present" width="322" height="40" /></a> <p>Hundreds of published papers, encompassing three decades of leading-edge complex systems research, are available for free and immediate download.</p> <a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/contribute/" title="Contribute" class="home"><img src="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-content/themes/complexsystems/img/gfx_home_issues.jpg" alt="Contribute" title="Contribute" width="440" height="299" style="margin-left: -49px; margin-bottom: .25em;" /></a> <p>Submissions for <em>Complex Systems</em> journal may be made by webform or email. There are no publication charges. Papers submitted to <em>Complex Systems</em> should present results in a manner accessible to a wide readership.</p> </div> <div class="psCol240 fRight"> <p class="txSmall"> current issue <br /> <a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/current/" title="Current Issue" class="home">Volume 33, Issue 4</a> </p> <a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/current/"> <img src="https://content.wolfram.com/sites/13/2025/01/33-4-outfront.png" alt="Current Issue" title="Current Issue" width="126" class="mBottom20" /> </a> <p class="txSmall"> <span class="txGrayL txBold">Stephen Wolfram</span> <br /> Why Does Biological Evolution Work? A Minimal Model for Biological Evolution and Other Adaptive Processes </p> <a href="https://www.complex-systems.com/subscribe/" title="Subscribe" class="home"><img src="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-content/themes/complexsystems/img/title_home_subscribe.png" alt="Subscribe" title="Subscribe" width="120" height="40" /></a> <p>Join the leading edge of complex systems research today!</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="psWrapper"> <div class="psContent"> <div class="copyright">  <div class="share-btns"> <div class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons text-align-r"></div> </div> <script src="//platform-api.sharethis.com/js/sharethis.js#property=58c97c9e946ad70011ee884c&product=inline-share-buttons"></script>  <p class="txSmall">© Complex Systems Publications, Inc. <em>Complex Systems</em> is a journal devoted to the science, mathematics and engineering of systems with simple components but complex overall behavior.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <img src="https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-content/themes/complexsystems/img/ui_contentbottom.png" alt="" width="820" height="50" title="" /> </div> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://www.complex-systems.com/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js'></script> </body> </html>