Understanding and Managing Systems far from Equilibrium[Comprendre et accompagner les systèmes loin de l'équilibre]

The authors are interested in situations in which a system, evolving at a distance from its basin of attraction, displays non-linear, chaotic behaviour, as difficult to model as to manage. More specifically, they explore that moment of instability when the system is likely to branch off, either to return to the previous equilibrium, or to swing towards trajectories that lead it to collapse, or to a new state of equilibrium, or to mutation, or to emerging solutions, and so on. Whether these situations concern chemistry, life sciences, psychology, social sciences or ecology, the approach to these moments of bifurcation, rupture and change enables us to understand and manage systems at a time that may be worrying, but also full of opportunities.