EAS 591K / MA 598E

Fall Semester 2008

Self-Similarity and Critical Phenomena in Geosciences

3 credits

Time: MWF 11:30 - 12:20
Room: REC 309

This course is an introduction to self-similarity, 
critical phenomena, chaos and fractals, and their
geoscience applications. 

The topics covered in the course:

Self-similarity, fractals, scaling, renormalization.
Pattern formation, self-organization, critical phenomena.
Continuous and discrete dynamical systems. Attractors.
Regular vs chaotic dynamics. Strange attractors.
Instability and unpredictability.
Bifurcations and onset of chaos.
Self-organized criticality.

Geoscience applications:

Atmospheric circulation, Geomagnetism, Geomorphology, Seismicity, 
Distribution of ore and sediment deposits, Forest fires,
Floods and droughts.

Prerequisites: Ordinary differential equations and linear algebra
(MA 262 or 265/266)

Texts:	Manfred Schroeder. 
	Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws: Minutes from an Infinite Paradise. 
	W. H. Freeman, either 1991 hardcover or 1992 paperback is OK.
	
	Donald L. Turcotte
	Fractals and Chaos in Geology and Geophysics, 2nd Ed.
	Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997