The Dynamics of Computation Area's research focuses on the relation between the local actions and the global behavior of large distributed systems, both social and computational. Examples of these systems are provided by distributed information processing, large heuristic searches, ecologies, social organizations and markets.
The overall dynamics of these systems is determined by the collective interactions of many autonomous agents. It is well known that they can display a panoply of complex and useful behaviors, and it is of central importance to learn how individual strategies give rise to these overall behaviors.
Our approach rests on two different techniques that have been very effective in dealing with complex systems: nonlinear dynamics and statistical physics. We have used these tools to elucidate the value of cooperation in problem solving, the dynamics of resource allocation in computational ecosystems and their market implementation, and the emergence of voluntary cooperation in groups of intentional agents. More recently we have examined the organizational consequences of specialization, the effect of organizational structure on its ability to solve complex problems in timely fashion, and the effects of organizational fluidity in sustaining cooperation in large social systems.
These insights have led to improved methods for distributed building controls, cooperative search algorithms, and organizational design.
Some other locations relevant to nonlinear dynamics, distributed artificial intelligence, etc.
visitors to Dynamics of Computation pages since Feb. 13th 1996.