Editorial: Risk, markets, games, and networks

Abstract

The 20 research articles collected in this issue share, in addition to their topical relations, one important feature: they present results obtained from research groups associated in the COST action P10 ‘Physics of Risk’. COST is an intergovernmental framework for ‘European Cooperation in Science and Technology’, allowing the coordination of research on a European level. The action P10 was funded between September 2003 and June 2008 and involved more than 80 scientists in 21 countries across Europe. The main objective of the action was to apply methods developed in statistical physics to accomplish a new quantitative understanding of the assessment of risk. This way it departed from usual activities in the field of risk management. In fact, in recent years statistical physics has successfully contributed to many interdisciplinary fields ranging from regulatory networks in biology to financial market models. Therefore, a transfer of methods and tools from statistical physics into the area of risk assessment should be a promising endeavour.