Display Publications by [Year] [Type] [Topic]
We consider the El Farol bar problem (W. B. Arthur, The American Economic Review , 84(2): 406--411 (1994), D. Challet and Y.C. Zhang, Physica A , 256:514 (1998)) as an instance of the general problem of how to automatically configure a distributed dynamical system so that its nodal elements do not "work at cross purposes", in that their collective dynamical behavior successfully achieves a global goal. We present a summary of a mathematical theory for such automated configuration applicable when (as in the bar problem) the global goal can be expressed as minimizing a global energy function. We then investigate the applicability of the core concepts of that theory to a difficult variant of the bar problem. We show that a system designed in accord with that theory performs nearly optimally for the bar problem, and in particular avoids the tragedy of the commons for that problem.
(unavailable)
@article{wolpert-tumer_epl00,
author = {D. H. Wolpert and K. Wheeler and K. Tumer},
title = {Collective Intelligence for Control of Distributed Dynamical Systems},
journal={Europhysics Letters},
volume = {49},
number = {6},
month = {March},
abstract = {We consider the El Farol bar problem (W. B. Arthur, The American Economic Review , 84(2): 406--411 (1994), D. Challet and Y.C. Zhang, Physica A , 256:514 (1998)) as an instance of the general problem of how to automatically configure a distributed dynamical system so that its nodal elements do not "work at cross purposes", in that their collective dynamical behavior successfully achieves a global goal. We present a summary of a mathematical theory for such automated configuration applicable when (as in the bar problem) the global goal can be expressed as minimizing a global energy function. We then investigate the applicability of the core concepts of that theory to a difficult variant of the bar problem. We show that a system designed in accord with that theory performs nearly optimally for the bar problem, and in particular avoids the tragedy of the commons for that problem.},
bib2html_pubtype = {Journal Articles},
bib2html_rescat = {Collectives},
year = {2000}
}
Generated by bib2html.pl (written by Patrick Riley ) on Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:18:05