Explore the fascinating intersection of statistics and everyday life in this 58-minute talk by Sidney Redner at the Santa Fe Institute. Discover how complex systems theory can illuminate mundane phenomena like parking strategies, elevator dynamics, and winning streaks in sports. Learn about first-passage processes, traffic clustering, and the "hot hand" paradox in basketball. Examine the impact of global warming on record-breaking temperatures and delve into citation statistics in scientific literature. Gain insights into how physicists use elegant toy models to derive mathematical descriptions of real-world situations, revealing hidden patterns and universal laws that govern our daily experiences.
Overview
Syllabus
Introduction
Sidneys early years
Research topics
First passage processes
Traffic clustering
Traffic jams outside of traffic
Efficiency vs resilience
Synchronization
The greedy random walk
The finite game
Record temperature statistics
How serious is it
Identifying statistical streaks
Competitive society
Scaleinduced competition
Hot hand paradox
Hot hand in basketball
Citation statistics
Feeding networks
Parking strategies
Real world complexity
Whats next
Taught by
Santa Fe Institute
