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(1) Presentation(s)

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Mar. 23/05/2017 15:00 Grande Ourse, Bâtiment 13, Etage 1

Séminaire
GHERARDI Marco (University of Milan)
Quantitative laws of software evolution (programs, encyclopaedias, and other animals)

(Physique Théorique)


Sommaire:

Software is taking an increasingly fundamental role in our society, as a technological tool as well as in social infrastructures. Exploring the pathways of open-source software production, and of more general collective efforts enabled by information-communication technology, is a major challenge for contemporary science. I will show that a quantitative approach to these subjects, based on the intuitions and methods of statistical physics, is fruitful and can provide unexpected insight into other fields as well. I will focus on size (of a piece of software or other product), which is an informative macroscopic quantity. Analysis of data from empirical systems, as well as mathematical modelling, brings out fascinating regularities. From the dynamics of Linux packages - with a digression into mammalian evolution -, to the universal traits of open collaborations such as Wikipedia, quantitative laws akin to those of physics emerge as the backbone of complexity.


Pour plus d'informations, merci de contacter Ciandrini L.