EXYSTENCE Thematic Institute
From Many-Particle Physics to Multi-Agent Systems
 

 

Workshop II: Multi-Agent Systems - Swarms, Ecology, and Society

The workshop primarily focuses on agent-based models of collective interaction in animated systems. This includes ``microscopic'' models for collective biological phenomena, such as aggregation, swarming behavior (global vs. local coupling, energetic conditions), or complex interaction in insect societies (nest building, trail following, chemical communication). Another focus will be applications of agent-based models to population dynamics, in particular for spatial interactions of populations. This also involves approaches from evolutionary game theory to understand the evolution of cooperation and the adaptation of strategies to a changing environment. Eventually, agent-based models in the social science shall play a considerable role, in order to explain phenomena such as the coordination of decisions via information exchange, collective opinion formation, or the establishment of (social) networks among agents.

The workshop shall further discuss the striking analogies in the collective behavior of biological or socio-economic systems and driven many-particle systems (see workshop I), that are observed on a phenomenological level. This includes phenomena such as self-organized criticality, fluctuation-induced ordering phenomena (e.g. agglomeration or segregation), non-equilibrium phase transitions and spontaneous structure formation. It should, therefore, be explored in which respects and to what extent conclusions from driven many-particle systems are relevant for the functionality, stability, reliability, and efficiency of biological and ecological systems, of societies, organizations, administrations, companies, production processes, etc.