Collectives and the Design of Complex Systems - Hardcover

Increasingly powerful computers are making possible distributed systems comprised of many adaptive and self-motivated computational agents. Such systems, when distinguished by system-level performance criteria, are known as "collectives."

Collectives and the Design of Complex Systems lays the foundation for a science of collectives and describes how to design them for optimal performance. An introductory survey chapter is followed by descriptions of information-processing problems that can only be solved by the joint actions of large communities of computers, each running its own complex, decentralized machine-learning algorithm. Subsequent chapters analyze the dynamics and structures of collectives, as well as address economic, model-free, and control-theory approaches to designing complex systems. The work assumes a modest understanding of basic statistics and calculus.

Topics and Features:

Introduces the burgeoning science of collectives and its practical applications in a single useful volume

Combines approaches from known researchers in the physics, economics, game theory, biology, and artificial intelligence (A.I.) communities

Analyzes the role of information transmission in collectives, such as in the minority game, specific game theory scenarios, and computational ecologies

Presents a broad view of state-of-the-art techniques and developments in the field

Describes the benefits and promise of collectives-based design of systems, and explores recent challenges faced by researchers

Highlights the interdisciplinary value to studying and using collectives

Provides a comprehensive subject index and chapter-ending bibliographies

With an accessible style that integrates key theoretical principles with applications in real-world scenarios, this unique monograph surveys the latest research on the dynamics of collectives, their A.I.-related aspects, and critical design issues pertaining to them. Computer scientists, computer engineers, and practitioners, researchers, and graduate students with an interest in this new and growing field will find the book an authoritative introduction and resource.

From the reviews:

"From the cybernetics point of view complex systems embrace a great number of disciplines ... . this text is concerned with a computer-science viewpoint and addresses issues in the design of complex systems. It is presented as a collection of chapters which although independent make up a readable whole. The book is highly recommended by several writers and reviewers." (C.J.H. Mann, Kybernetes: The International Journal of Systems & Cybernetics, (34) 5, 2005)