Elements of a Theory of Simulation

Arti cial Life and the more general area of Complex Systems does not have a uni ed theoretical framework although most theoretical work in these areas is based on simulation. This is primarily due to an insu cient representational power of the classical mathematical frameworks for the description of discrete dynamical systems of interacting objects with often complex internal states. Unlike computation or the numerical analysis of di erential equations, simulation does not have a well established conceptual and mathematical foundation. Simulation is an arguable unique union of modeling and computation. However, simulation also quali es as a separate species of system representation with its own motivations, characteristics, and implications. This work outlines how simulation can be rooted in mathematics and shows which properties some of the elements of such a mathematical framework has. The properties of simulation are described and analyzed in terms of properties of dynamical systems...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1995
• Where: ECAL
• Authors: Steen Rasmussen, Christopher L. Barrett
• Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Dynamical Systems, ECAL 1995, Mathematical Framework, Simulations