Multi-Scale Constraint Systems: Admissibility Across Hierarchical Levels in Complex Systems
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Many complex systems operate across multiple interacting scales, where behaviour at one level influences and constrains behaviour at other levels. Examples include ecological systems, economic markets, climate dynamics, biological organisms, and technological networks. These systems exhibit hierarchical organisation in which local interactions generate higher-level patterns while global conditions constrain lower-level processes. This paper interprets multi-scale constraint systems within the Paton System framework as admissibility relationships operating across hierarchical system levels. Stability emerges when interactions across scales remain compatible with structural and operational limits. When cross-scale interactions exceed these limits, instability may propagate between levels, producing systemic disruption. Understanding multi-scale constraint systems through admissibility provides a structural interpretation of stability and collapse in hierarchical complex systems.
Author: Paton, Andrew John
Language: English
Topic: Complex Systems and Dynamics
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7136288968
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