complexity theory

noun

1. the study of complex and chaotic systems and how order, pattern, and structure can arise from them.
2. the theory that processes having a large number of seemingly independent agents can spontaneously order themselves into a coherent system.

complexity theory

noun

1. maths the study of complex systems, including subjects such as chaos theory and genetic algorithms
2. computing a field in theoretical computer science dealing with the resources required during computation to solve a given problem

complexity theory

/ kəm-plĕk′sĭ-tē /

1. See computational complexity
2. Any of various branches of mathematics, physics, computer science, and other fields, concerned with the emergence of order and structure in complex and apparently chaotic systems.
3. See also chaos

Example Sentences

A couple of decades ago, Steve Cook moved on to other related problems in complexity theory.

From MIT Technology Review

One of the most important results in all of complexity theory, for instance, was achieved by David Barrington, of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1989.

From MIT Technology Review

On Monday, July 19, 2021, in the middle of another strange pandemic summer, a leading computer scientist in the field of complexity theory tweeted out a public service message about an administrative snafu at a journal.

From MIT Technology Review

In the coming decades he would make many foundational contributions to complexity theory — helping to elaborate which problems fall into which complexity classes under which circumstances.

From Quanta Magazine