A key concept in complexity theory in which certain features of a complex system occur as a result of collective behaviour of the system. For example, in the kinetic theory of gases the concept of temperature emerges from the average kinetic energy of the very large number of particles in the system. It has been suggested that gravitation, space, and time in physics should ultimately be emergent quantities.
Geography
The creation of new phenomena, requiring new laws and principles, at each level of organization of a complex, and often non-linear, system. This concept from physics has been applied to geomorphology; see Harrison (2001) TIBG 26, 3.