ANOMALOUS FLUCTUATIONS IN THE DYNAMICS OF COMPLEX-SYSTEMS - FROM DNA AND PHYSIOLOGY TO ECONOPHYSICS

We discuss examples of complex systems composed of many interacting su bsystems. We focus on those systems displaying nontrivial long-range c orrelations. These include the one-dimensional sequence of base pairs in DNA, the sequence of flight times of the large seabird Wandering Al batross, and the annual fluctuations in the growth rate of business fi rms. We review formal analogies in the models that describe the observ ed long-range correlations, and conclude by discussing the possibility that behavior of large numbers of humans (as measured, e.g., by econo mic indices) might conform to analogs of the scaling laws that have pr oved useful in describing systems composed of large numbers of inanima te objects.