Prof Christian Beck
Professor of Applied Mathematics
Head of The Centre for Complex Systems
School of Mathematical Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London
Research
Stochastic modelling, spatio-temporal chaos, power grids, dynamics of air pollution, sustainable energy systems, superstatistics
Interests
Christian Beck’s research is in the general area of data-driven analysis and stochastic modelling of complex systems, with applications to real-world problems, e.g. sustainable energy systems, frequency fluctuations in power grid networks, spatio-temporal air pollution data, traffic delays, and environmental problems. He has made important well-recognized contributions to the understanding of equilibrium states and stationary nonequilibrium states of complex systems, introducing (together with E.G.D Cohen, Rockefeller University New York) so-called superstatistical techniques, which by now have become an established standard method in statistical physics. He is an expert in dynamical systems, stochastic processes, data-driven approaches to complex systems, spatio-temporal chaotic dynamics, stochastic modelling techniques, and interdisciplinary applications.In 2023 Christian Beck was elected to the Executive Committee of the European Physical Society (EPS). He is currently on the Editorial Board of the journals Scientific Reports, Physica A, Entropy, and Frontiers in Complex Systems. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (FIMA).
Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Complex Systems
2024
He H, Boehringer T, Schäfer B, Heppell K and Beck C (2024). Analyzing spatio-temporal dynamics of dissolved oxygen for the River Thames using superstatistical methods and machine learning. Scientific Reports, Springer Nature vol. 14 (1) 12-09-2024
Beck C (2024). 978-0-7503-6342-6 EPS Grand Challenges: Physics for Society in the Horizon 2050., Editors: Hidalgo C. 23-03-2024
Klages R, Yan J, Beck C, Majumdar M, Ruffo S and Sato Y (2024). Transition to anomalous dynamics in a simple random map. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, American Institute of Physics 20-02-2024
2023
Böttcher PC, Rydin Gorjão L, Beck C, Jumar R, Maass H, Hagenmeyer V, Witthaut D and Schäfer B (2023). Initial analysis of the impact of the Ukrainian power grid synchronization with Continental Europe. Energy Advances, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) vol. 2 (1), 91-97. 01-01-2023
2022
Aswin Giri J, Schäfer B, Verma R, He H, Shiva Nagendra SM, Khare M and Beck C (2022). Lockdown Effects on Air Quality in Megacities During the First and Second Waves of COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal- Institution of Engineers (India) Series a, Springer Nature 24-11-2022
Yan J and Beck C (2022). Information Shift Dynamics Described by Tsallis q = 3 Entropy on a Compact Phase Space. Entropy, MDPI vol. 24 (11) 17-11-2022
Anvari M, Proedrou E, Schäfer B, Beck C, Kantz H and Timme M (2022). Data-driven load profiles and the dynamics of residential electricity consumption. Nature Communications, Springer Nature vol. 13 (1) 06-08-2022
Schäfer B, Beck C, Rhys H, Soteriou H, Jennings P, Beechey A and Heppell CM (2022). Machine learning approach towards explaining water quality dynamics in an urbanised river. Scientific Reports, Springer Nature vol. 12 (1) 19-07-2022
He H, Schäfer B and Beck C (2022). Spatial heterogeneity of air pollution statistics in Europe. Scientific Reports, Nature Research vol. 12 (1) 16-07-2022
Han C, Hilger H, Mix E, Böttcher PC, Reyers M, Beck C, Witthaut D and Gorjão LR (2022). Complexity and Persistence of Price Time Series of the European Electricity Spot Market. PRX Energy, American Physical Society (APS) vol. 1 (1) 07-04-2022
Beck C (2022). Complex systems: the amazing cross-disciplinary journey of statistical physics. Europhysics news vol. 53 (1), 10-10. 28-02-2022
Gorjão LR, Vanfretti L, Witthaut D, Beck C and Schäfer B (2022). Phase and Amplitude Synchronization in Power-Grid Frequency Fluctuations in the Nordic Grid. IEEE Access vol. 10, 18065-18073. 30-01-2022
Beck C and Barbato F (2022). Physics for secure and efficient societies. Europhysics news, EDP Sciences vol. 53 (5), 36-39. 01-01-2022
2021
Schäfer B, Heppell CM, Rhys H and Beck C (2021). Monitoring water quality: A citizen science success story. iScience vol. 24 (11) 19-11-2021
Itto Y and Beck C (2021). Weak correlation between fluctuations in protein diffusion inside bacteria. Journal of Physics : Conference Series, Institute of Physics (IoP) vol. 2090 (1), 012168-012168. 01-11-2021
Gorjão LR, Schäfer B, Witthaut D and Beck C (2021). Spatio-temporal complexity of power-grid frequency fluctuations. New Journal of Physics vol. 23 (7), 073016-073016. 01-07-2021
Schäfer B, Heppell CM, Rhys H and Beck C (2021). Fluctuations of water quality time series in rivers follow superstatistics. iScience, Elsevier (Cell Press), 102881-102881. 01-07-2021
Mitsokapas E, Schaefer B, Harris R and Beck C (2021). Statistical characterization of airplane delays. Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group 12-04-2021
Beck C and Itto Y (2021). Superstatistical modelling of protein diffusion dynamics in bacteria. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Royal Society, The 03-03-2021
2020
Rydin Gorjao L, Jumar R, Maass H, Hagenmeyer V, Yalcin C, Kruse J, Timme M, Beck C, Witthaut D and Schaefer B (2020). Open data base analysis of scaling and spatio-temporal properties of power grid frequencies. Nature Communications, Nature Research (part of Springer Nature) 11-12-2020
Beck C, van den Beek K and Ritort F (2020). Physics of Living Matter., Editors: Beck C, van den Beek K and Ritort F. Europhysics News, EDP Sciences (51/5) 12-11-2020
Smolla M, Schäfer B, Lesch H and Beck C (2020). Universal properties of primary and secondary cosmic ray energy spectra. New Journal of Physics, IOP Publishing vol. 22 (9) 01-09-2020
Beck C and Yan J (2020). Distinguished correlation properties of Chebyshev dynamical systems and their generalizations. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals, Elsevier 20-06-2020
Beck C, Benedek G, Livadiotis G, Rapisarda A, Tirnakli U and Tsallis C (2020). Nonextensive statistical mechanics, superstatistics and beyond: theory and applications in astrophysical and other complex systems. European Physical Journal: Special Topics vol. 229 (5), 707-709. 12-03-2020
Iacopini I, Schäfer B, Arcaute E, Beck C and Latora V (2020). Multi-layer modelling of adoption dynamics in energy demand management. Chaos: an interdisciplinary journal of nonlinear science, AIP Publishing 31-01-2020
Gorjao LR, Anvari M, Kantz H, Beck C, Witthaut D, Timme M and Schafer B (2020). Data-driven model of the power-grid frequency dynamics. IEEE Access, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 1-1. 20-01-2020
Williams G, Schäfer B and Beck C (2020). Superstatistical approach to air pollution statistics. Physical Review Research, American Physical Society (APS) vol. 2 (1) 01-01-2020
2019
Weber J, Reyers M, Beck C, Timme M, Pinto JG, Witthaut D and Schäfer B (2019). Wind Power Persistence Characterized by Superstatistics. Scientific Reports, Springer Nature vol. 9 (1) 27-12-2019
Yan J and Beck C (2019). Nonlinear Dynamics of Coupled Axion-Josephson Junction Systems. Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, Elsevier 10-12-2019
Beck C (2019). EPS Statistical and Nonlinear Physics Prize 2019 awarded to Sergio Ciliberto and Satya Majumdar. Europhysics News, EDP Sciences 01-10-2019
Martyr R, Schaefer B, Beck C and Latora V (2019). Benchmarking the performance of controllers for power grid transient
stability. Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks, Elsevier 12-04-2019
2018
Martyr R, Moriarty J and Beck C (2018). Optimal control of a commercial building's thermostatic load for off-peak demand response. Journal of Building Performance Simulation, Taylor & Francis vol. 12 (5), 580-594. 07-11-2018
Williams G and Beck C (2018). Stochastic differential equations driven by deterministic chaotic maps: analytic solutions of the Perron–Frobenius equation. Nonlinearity, IOP Publishing vol. 31 (7), 3484-3511. 14-06-2018
Yalcin GC and BECK C (2018). Generalized statistical mechanics of cosmic rays: Application to positron-electron spectral indices. Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group 29-01-2018
Schäfer B, BECK C, Aihara K, Witthaut D and Timme M (2018). Non-Gaussian power grid frequency fluctuations characterized by Lévy-stable laws and superstatistics. Nature Energy, Nature Publishing Group vol. 3, 119-126. 08-01-2018
2017
Jizba P, Korbel J, Lavička H, Prokš M, Svoboda V and BECK C (2017). Transitions between superstatistical regimes: Validity, breakdown and applications. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier 03-11-2017
BECK C (2017). Possible resonance effect of dark matter axions in SNS Josephson junctions. lanl.arxiv.org/abs/1710.04299v1 vol. EPS-HEP2017 (Proc. of Science), 058-058. 11-10-2017
Xu D and Beck C (2017). Symbolic dynamics techniques for complex systems: Application to share price dynamics. EPL (Europhysics Letters) vol. 118 (3), 30001-30001. 07-07-2017
BECK C and Cohen EGD (2017). Superstatistics: Superposition of Maxwell-Boltzmann Distributions. Kappa Distributions: Theory and Applications of Plasmas 01-05-2017
2016
Beck C (2016). Cosmological flux noise and measured noise power spectra in SQUIDs. Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group: Open Access Journals - Option C vol. 6 20-06-2016
Yalcin GC, Rabassa P and Beck C (2016). Extreme event statistics of daily rainfall: dynamical systems approach. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS A-MATHEMATICAL AND THEORETICAL vol. 49 (15) 15-04-2016
Xu D and Beck C (2016). Transition from lognormal to X2 superstatistics for financial time series. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications vol. 453, 173-183. 22-02-2016
Penrose C and Beck C (2016). Superstatistics of Blaschke products. DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL vol. 31 (1), 89-105. 02-01-2016
2015
Akram G and Beck C (2015). Hierarchical cascade model leading to 7-th order initial value problem. Applied Numerical Mathematics, Elsevier vol. 91, 89-97. 01-05-2015
Beck C (2015). Axion mass estimates from resonant Josephson junctions. Physics of the Dark Universe, Elsevier vol. 7, 6-11. 01-03-2015
Rabassa P and Beck C (2015). Superstatistical analysis of sea-level fluctuations. Physica A Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier vol. 417, 18-28. 01-01-2015