complexity theory
Americannoun
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the study of complex and chaotic systems and how order, pattern, and structure can arise from them.
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the theory that processes having a large number of seemingly independent agents can spontaneously order themselves into a coherent system.
noun
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maths the study of complex systems, including subjects such as chaos theory and genetic algorithms
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computing a field in theoretical computer science dealing with the resources required during computation to solve a given problem
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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.
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See also chaos
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This advance was possible because the researchers identified links between the equations used in dipole models and those found in complexity theory.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 5, 2026
“What’s amazing is that quantum complexity theory has been the key to the proof,” says Toby Cubitt, a quantum-information theorist at University College London.
From Nature ● Jan. 15, 2020
We will discuss this point in more detail in a later section on complexity theory.
From Nature ● Sep. 12, 2017
The overuse of power law models is an example of complexity theory not entertaining enough complexity.
From Slate ● Jan. 19, 2016
His library on the second floor of his house in Virginia is lined with rows upon rows of works on complexity theory and military strategy.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
