Modeling uncertain domains with polyagents

Agent-based modeling is a powerful tool for systems modeling. Instantiating each domain entity with an agent permits us to capture many aspects of system dynamics and interactions that other modeling techniques do not support. However, the software agent representing an entity can execute only one trajectory in each run of the system, and so does not capture the alternative trajectories accessible to the entity in the evolution of any realistic system. Averaging over multiple runs still does not capture the range of individual interactions involved. We have addressed these problems with a new modeling entity, the polyagent, which represents each entity with a single persistent avatar supported by a swarm of transient ghosts. Each ghost interacts with the ghosts of all other avatars through digital pheromone fields, capturing a wide range of alternative trajectories in a single run of the system that can proceed faster than real time for many reasonable domains. We articulate this mode...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: ATAL
• Authors: H. Van Dyke Parunak, Sven Brueckner
• Keywords: Alternative Trajectories, ATAL 2006, Digital Pheromones, Domain Entity, Intelligent Agents