Like roots and leaves sourcing nutrients and light for a centralized trunk; traditional power grids have central generation servicing distributed demand signals, but are also constrained to maintain synchronization. Form should serve function in networked systems. We explore “root structures“ for constrained systems with distributed supply and demand.

With the right leverage point, a water buffalo can be led with a string. In complex systems, causation is often unclear since it is common to have mutually arising phenomenon. Despite this fundamental issue, Geometric Partition Entropy provides a new foundation for untangling the complex web of influences and finding the hidden hand at work. But, there may not be just one hand. We explore “root causes“ from collections of time series.

Complex systems emerge from large numbers of often heterogeneous interacting agents, each having their own systems and rules. From shared timing to alternative PNT, encrypted comms and beyond, decentralized systems require new foundational capabilities. These “root systems“ can not be built on the same assumptions of global knowledge and inherently involve uncertainty in more complex ways.