Crustal Dynamics: Chaotic Behavior and Fractal Structures Workshop

在过去的十年中，复杂动力系统中的混沌行为的一般领域在各种基础和应用科学学科中受到了极大的关注。与之密切相关的学科是分形、相变、成核和重整化群方法。认识到确定性混沌的存在提出了一些重要的问题，如因果关系的作用，机会，以及确定性预测的物理过程，如地震，在地球科学的前景。只有少数地球科学家在这些领域积极工作。该奖项有助于支持一个小型研讨会形式的会议，这将是非常宝贵的，在激发兴趣和发展这一领域的专业知识。20 - 30名地球科学家将与10 - 20名非线性动力学家非正式会面，探讨如何最好地利用这些新发展的想法来理解地壳动力学中的复杂性。

During the preceeding decade, the general area of chaotic behavior in complicated dynamical systems has received a great deal of attention in a variety of fundamental and applied scientific disciplines. Closely related subjects are fractals, phase transitions, nucleation, and the renormalization group approach. The recognition of the existence of deterministic chaos raises important questions about the role of causality, chance, and the prospects for deterministic prediction of physical processes, such as earthquakes, in the earth sciences. Only a small number of earth scientists are actively working in these areas. This award contributes support to a small workshop - format conference, which will be invaluable in stimulating interest and developing expertise in this area. 20 - 30 earth scientists will informally meet with 10 - 20 nonlinear dynamicists to explore how these newly developed ideas might best be used in understanding the complexity seen in the dynamics of the earth's crust.