Thank you.
Journal Announcements
Note: Pointers to the journals listed below can be found on
the journal and publisher information page linked to the ACE website
home page.
- Two Special ACE Journal Issues to Appear in 2001
- Two special ACE issues, guest-edited by Leigh Tesfatsion,
are scheduled to appear in early 2001. The first issue, for
Computational Economics, includes six articles that explore
the evolution of norms, self-organization, and agent learning in
stylized problem contexts. The second issue, for the Journal of
Economic Dynamics and Control, includes twelve articles that
construct ACE frameworks within which various efficiency and welfare
concerns are studied for specific types of markets: namely,
financial markets, labor markets, retail fish markets,
business-to-business markets, electricity markets, entertainment
markets, automated negotiation markets, e-commerce, and cattle
pasture access markets in North Cameroon.
- Introductions to these two special ACE issues (in both
postscript and pdf) can be accessed at
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/surveys.htm#ACESpec.
Each introduction begins with a brief ACE overview followed by an
article synopsis.
- CFP for a Special ACE Issue in the IEEE Transactions
- Papers on ACE-related topics are solicited for possible inclusion in
a special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation
on the Agent-Based Modelling of Evolutionary Economic Systems, guest edited
by Leigh Tesfatsion. Each submitted paper should address a clearly defined
issue of economic interest from an evolutionary agent-based perspective. The
deadline for receipt of paper submissions is August 31, 2000.
- Detailed information about this special ACE issue can be obtained at
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/ieeespec.htm.
- Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation
- Volume 3 (Number 2) of the electronic Journal of
Artificial Societies and Social Simulation (JASSS) was published
on March 31, 2000. This March issue (along with back issues) can be
accessed online at
http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS/JASSS.html.
- From the Editor: "The March issue includes two peer
reviewed papers: `Modelling social systems as complex: Towards a
social simulation meta-model,' and `Simulating Common Pool Resource
Management Experiments with Adaptive Agents Employing Alternate
Communication Routines.' The former paper proposes a meta-model
drawing on both complex system insights and the theory of
autopoiesis to assist in the design of agents for social simulation.
The latter paper describes the development of a series of
intelligent agent simulations to examine the effects of different
institutional configurations and individual behavioral
characteristics on group level performance in a `Tragedy of the
Commons' dilemma."
- "The issue also includes a special Forum section that looks
backwards to review significant research that has continuing value
for today's work. One paper revisits Robert Axelrod's classic, The
Evolution of Cooperation, and the other examines Georg Simmel's work
at the beginning of the twentieth century on Fashion, relating his
insights to simulation models."
- "The next issue of JASSS is due to be published at the end
of June. Submissions for that issue are welcome. Because JASSS is
distributed over the World Web Wide and all editorial operations use
the Internet, we can achieve much faster turn-round from first
submission to acceptance than most conventional paper journals."
Book Announcements
Note: The following book announcements have been incorporated
into the annotated syllabus of ACE-related readings linked to the
ACE website home page. Links to publishers (for ordering purposes)
can be found on the journal and book announcements and information
page linked to the ACE website home page.
- Nigel Gilbert and Klaus G. Troitzsch, Simulation for the Social
Scientist, Open University Press, May 1999, 273 pp., ISBN 0-33-519744-2
(Paperback).
- From the publisher: "(This) is a practical textbook on the
techniques of building computer simulations to help with understanding issues
and problems in social science. Interest in social simulation has been
growing very rapidly world-wide, as a result of increasingly powerful
hardware and software, and rising interest in the application of ideas such
as complexity, evolution, adaptation and chaos in the social sciences. This
authoritative book outlines all the common approaches to simulation at a
level of detail that gives social scientists an appreciation of the
literature and allows those with some programming skills to create their own
simulations."
- Anna Nagurney, Sustainable Transportation Networks,
Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, England, 2000, 304 pp., ISBN
1-84064-375-9.
- From the publisher: "Transportation networks are essential
to the functioning of societies and economies and provide the
infrastructure for the movement of people and goods over space and
time. The existence and utilization of transportation networks are
fundamental to the modern age and the negative effects of congestion
and pollution associated with their increasing usage demand urgent
attention."
- "This book cogently addresses the question as to whether
transportation networks are sustainable: that is, can they last,
given the growing demands on the network, on the one hand, and the
desire to alleviate the associated negative impacts, on the other.
Anna Nagurney answers the question positively by providing a
rigorous foundation for the formulation, analysis, and computation
of solutions to such problems through the use of appropriate
policies ranging from tolls and tradable pollution permits to the
design of the networks themselves."
- Anna Nagurney is the John F. Smith Memorial Professor,
Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts at
Amherst.
- Duncan J. Watts, Small Worlds: The Dynamics of Networks Between Order
and Randomness, Princeton University Press, October 1999, 262 pp., ISBN
0-69-100541-9.
- From the publisher: "How do networks matter? Simply put, local
actions can have global consequences, and the relationship between local and
global dynamics depends critically on the network's structure. Watts
illustrates the subtleties of this relationship using a variety of simple
models --- the spread of infectious disease through a structured population;
the evolution of cooperation in game theory; the computational capacity of
cellular automata; and the synchronisation of coupled phase-oscillators.
...This fascinating exploration will be fruitful in a remarkable variety of
fields, including physics and mathematics, as well as sociology, economics,
and biology."
- Dr. Duncan J. Watts is a postdoctoral Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute,
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- Gerhard Weiss (ed.), Multiagent Systems: A Modern Approach to
Distributed Artificial Intelligence, MIT Press, June 1999, 619 pp.,
ISBN 0-26-223203-0.
- From the publisher: "This is the first comprehensive introduction to
multiagent systems and contemporary distributed artificial intelligence that
is suitable as a textbook. The book provides detailed coverage of basic
topics as well as several closely related ones. Unlike traditional
textbooks, the book brings together many leading experts, guaranteeing a
broad and diverse base of knowledge and expertise. It emphasizes aspects of
both theory and application, and provides many illustrations and examples.
Also included are thought-provoking exercises of varying degrees of difficulty
and a twenty-page glossary of terms found in the study of agents, multiagent
systems, and distributed artificial intelligence."
- John R. Koza, Forrest H. Bennett III, Forrest H. Bennett, David Andre,
and Martin A. Keane, Genetic Programming III: Darwinian Invention and
Problem Solving, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, March 1999, 1184 pp.,
ISBN 1-55-860543-6.
- From the publisher: "Genetic programming is a method for getting a
computer to solve a problem by telling it what needs to be done instead of
how to do it. The authors present genetically evolved solutions to dozens of
problems of design, optimal control, classification, system identification,
function learning, and computational molecular biology. Among the solutions
are 14 competitive with human-produced results, including 10 rediscoveries
of previously patented inventions."
- Christoph Adami, Introduction to Artificial Life,
Springer Verlag, January 1998, 320 pp., ISBN 0-38-794646-2.
- From the publisher: "(This book is) an introduction to the theory of
and experiments with simple living systems, spanning statistical physics,
information theory, self-organized criticality, percolation theory, fitness
landscapes, and Eigen's theory of molecular evolution. The Avida software
provided on the CD-ROM and its User's Manual (in the Appendix) allow diverse
experiments to be carried out on populations of self-replicating computer
programs. This book and CD-ROM have been developed in a course taught at
Caltech since 1995, and are based on Alife research conducted there. ...The
intended target audience is advanced undergraduate to beginning graduate
students who have mastered essential concepts of statistical physics,
thermodynamics, and basic biology...(and have) a familiarity with computer
programming."
- Christoph Adami is a member of the faculty of the California Institute
of Technology.
- Eric Bonabeau, Marco Dorigo, and Guy Theraulaz, Swarm Intelligence:
From Natural to Artificial Systems, Oxford University Press, October
1999, ISBN 0-19-513158-4.
- This book provides a synthesis of studies on swarm intelligence. It
includes an introduction to the subject together and a variety of examples
that can be understood even by those who do not wish to work through the
more detailed discussion of algorithms.
- George B. Dyson, Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution of Global
Intelligence, Perseus Books, October 1998, 304 pp., ISBN 0-73-820030-1.
- From the publisher: "George Dyson grew up at the Institute for
Advanced Study, where such scientists as his father, Freeman Dyson, and John
von Neumann laid the foundations for the Information Age. From this vantage
point, and with an unprecedented cast of characters, Dyson traces the course
of the information revolution, illuminating the lives, work and ideas of
visionaries who foresaw the development of artificial intelligence,
artificial life, and the global mind."
- James A. Highsmith III, Adaptive Software Development: A Collaborative
Approach to Managing Complex Systems, Dorset House Publishing, N.Y.,
December 1999, ISBN 0-93-263340-4.
- From the publisher: "(This book) offers a theory for software
development management that suggests an adaptive culture in which change and
uncertainty are assumed to be the natural state, as opposed to the
conventional belief that optimization is the only solution to increasingly
complex problems. The approach combines customer focus groups, versioning,
time-boxed management, and active prototyping. The book does not provide a
set of prescriptive rules or tasks, but a framework of concepts, practices,
and guidelines."
Software
Note: Pointers to the following materials have been
incorporated into the software page linked to the ACE website home
page.
- SFI Artificial Stock Market Code
- The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) has recently open-sourced the
artificial stock market code developed by a number of SFI
researchers. The code is available in a Swarm version and a more
extensive Objective-C version on the Swarm website at
http://www.swarm.org/community-links.html.
- Interactive Simulations in Java
- AgentSheets is an authoring tool for building interactive simulations
in Java. Key features stressed by the providers include: speed; no players
or plug-ins; school hardware/software friendly; highly interactive; rich
multimedia support; and collaborative support. For more information, visit
the AgentSheets website at
http://www.agentsheets.com/
- Agent-Based Simulations in Java
- Repast (REcursive Porous Agent Simulation Toolkit) is an agent-based
simulation toolkit for creating agent-based simulations using Java (1.2 or
higher). Repast follows the basic Swarm paradigm in that it envisions a
simulation as a state machine whose state is constituted by the collective
states of all of its components, both infrastructure and representation. The
goal of Repast is to move beyond the representation of agents as discrete
self-contained entities in favor of a view of social actors as permeable,
interleaved, and mutually defining, with cascading and recombinant motives.
- Repast provides a library of classes for creating, running,
displaying, and collecting data from an agent-based simulation. In addition,
RePast can take snapshots of running simulations and create quicktime movies
of simulations as well as handling batch runs iterated through large
parameter spaces. Repast is being released through SourceForge, an open
source development site, and is using SourceForge to manage development of
RePast. For more information, visit the RePast homepage at
http://repast.sourceforge.net/
- Agent Construction Tools
- AgentBuilder provides an extensive annotated collection of pointers
to agent construction tools. The tools are categorized as either
commercially available products or academic and research projects. A brief
summary is provided for each tool as well as a link to the provider's product
description. The AgentBuilder website can be accessed at
http://www.agentbuilder.com/AgentTools/
Research Groups and Sites
Note: Pointers to the following research groups and sites
have been incorporated into the ACE-related research groups and
sites page linked to the ACE website home page.
- Complex Adaptive Systems: Business Applications
- Filippo Menczer (Management Sciences Department, University of Iowa)
organized a Fall 1999 seminar series on complex adaptive systems and their
business applications at the University of Iowa, sponsored by the Santa Fe
Institute. Interested readers can access a detailed report on this seminar
series, including speakers, topic abstracts, powerpoint presentations, and
downloadable papers and related resources at
http://www.santafe.edu/sfi/education/fal/fal99/menczerReport.html
- Cognitive and Brain Sciences
- MIT CogNet is an electronic community for the cognitive and brain
sciences under development by the MIT Press. The intention is to bring
together current and classic resources in the field and provide a unique,
interactive forum for scholars, students, and professionals. Services will
include: a searchable full-text library with a growing collection of books,
journals, and other reference works; an academic almanac of cognitive science
programs; editorials on groundbreaking or controversial research; job
listings; virtual poster sessions; threaded discussion groups; and community
member profiles. MIT CogNet is a free service through August 31, 2000, and
is actively seeking charter members. For more information, visit
http://cognet.mit.edu/
- Global Electronic Commerce
- The UMBC Institute for Global Electronic Commerce maintains an
extensive directory of news, information, and Internet resources related to
e-commerce for both product developers and academic researchers. This
directory, called ecTechWeb, can be accessed at
http://www.igec.umbc.edu/ectech/web/
- Zooland
- Zooland, maintained by Jörg Heitkötter at the Santa Fe
Institute in New Mexico, provides pointers to an extensive catalogued
collection of resources on artificial life. Topics covered include computer
viruses, artificial life simulators, infospiders, biomorphs, L-systems,
cellular automata, and much more. The Zooland website can be accessed at
http://alife.santafe.edu/~joke/zooland/
Workshops and Meetings
Note: The following announcements have been incorporated into the
workshops and meetings page linked to the ACE website home page.
- CASOS Summer Institute (July 2000)
- The Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organizational
Systems (CASOS), under the direction of Kathleen M. Carley, will hold its
Annual Summer Workshop during July 16--21, 2000, at Carnegie Mellon
University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Topics covered include: Social
Networks; Organizational Networks; Dynamic Networks; Optimization Techniques;
Adaptive, Evolutionary, and Learning Systems; Emulative models; The Virtual
Design Team; Docking: The Virtual Design Team & ORGCON; Intellective models
and statistical analysis; and Validation Analysis.
- From the Director: "The purpose of this institute is to provide an
intense and hands-on introduction to computational analysis of social and
organizational systems. Formal techniques taught include social network
analysis and simulation. Participants will also be able to complete the
workshop without programming skills or in-depth understanding of particular
social theories. Computer programming and basic social or organizational
theory are not included under the topics covered."
- "Participation is open to graduate students, faculty, and personnel
from industry. Due to space restrictions we are limited to approximately 35
students per year.... For additional information, contact Kathleen M. Carley,
kcarley@ece.cmu.edu, 1-412-268-3225."
- Computational Social and Organizational Science (July 2000)
- The 10th meeting of the Annual Workshop on Computational and
Mathematical Organization Theory (CMOT) will by held July 21-24, 2000, at
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- The purpose of this conference is to explore advances in
computational social and organizational science. Of interest is recent work
in any of the following areas: (1) computational theorizing about complex
socio-cognitive-technical systems, including organizations, societies, and
technology enhanced environments; (2) new computational or network based
analysis tools for studying socio-cognitive-technological systems,
social-psychological, social, organizational, and technological systems; and
(3) empirical tests of computational, mathematical, or logical models. For
additional information, contact Kathleen M. Carley at kcarley@ece.cmu.edu.
- Complexity and Complex Systems in Industry (September 2000)
- An international conference on Complexity and Complex Systems in
Industry will be held September 19-20, 2000, at the University of
Warwick. The conference will promote understanding of the various known and
emerging bodies of work dealing with complexity and complex systems and how
they relate to each other in terms of knowledge application and levels of
industrial activity.
- Papers are invited on both knowledge and applications themes.
Knowledge themes include: Complex systems modelling and entropic measures;
agent-based modelling and simulation methods; evolutionary programming,
simulated annealing and genetic algorithms; evolutionary dynamics of
organizations and fitness landscape theory; and memetics, knowledge and
learning. Application themes include: Product design, development, and
introduction; supply chain management and logistics; human resource
management; and scheduling and production control. The deadline for
submission of paper abstracts is May 1, 2000. For additional information,
visit the conference website at
http://www.wmg.org.uk/mcn/conference.html
- Multi-Agents and Mobile Agents in Virtual Organizations and
E-Commerce (December 2000)
- A Symposium on Multi-Agents and Mobile Agents in Virtual
Organizations and E-Commerce (MAMA'2000) will be held December
11-13, 2000, as an integral part of the International ICSC Congress
on Intelligent Systems and Applications (ISA'2000), December 12-15,
2000, at the University of Wollongong (near Sydney), Australia.
Topics of interests include: Agents; Multi-Agents; Computer
Supported Cooperative/Collaborative Work; Business partnerships and
Virtual Organisations; and E-Commerce. The deadline for submissions
is June 12, 2000. For more information, visit
http://mama-2000.tripod.com/.
Program, Course, and Position Announcements
- Research Position Openings at CWI, Amsterdam
- From dr. Han La Poutre (Spring 2000): "CWI is the National Research
Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands. CWI
performs frontier research in mathematics and computer science and transfers
new knowledge in these fields to society in general and trade and industry in
particular. CWI is a scientific research institute of NWO, the Netherlands
Organization for Scientific Research."
- "The research group `Evolutionary Systems and Applied Algorithmics'
of CWI focuses on the research fields evolutionary systems, neural networks
and on-line algorithms, especially for applications in the fields of
management, e-commerce, and economics. In the research group, there are
vacancies for 3 postdocs and 1 PhD student as researchers in the fields of
evolutionary systems, neural networks, and e-commerce applications. The
postdocs and the PhD student will perform fundamental research as well as
participate in the external research projects of the group. The ratio between
these is depending on the specific research position. The research aims at
development and application of evolutionary systems (e.g., genetic
algorithms), neural networks, and applied algorithmics for one or more of the
following fields: agent-based economics, e-commerce, intelligent agents,
profiling, classification, and economic simulations."
- "An important external activity is the e-commerce project `Autonomous
Systems of Trade Agents in E-Commerce'. This project is funded by the
Telematics Institute in the Netherlands. Other partners participating in this
project are TNO (the Dutch Institute for Applied Research), ING Bank, and KPN
(the Dutch Telecom Company). Furthermore, one of the postdocs will cooperate
with the young high-tech company SmartEye, focusing on text mining and
individual profiling. Participation in various smaller projects with
companies and research institutes is also possible."
- "Candidates are expected to have graduated (doctorate resp. master's
degree) in one of the exact sciences or economics, preferably on a topic
relevant for the above areas. Terms of employment: An appointment as
post-doc will be for a period of 2 years. The PhD student will be appointed
for 4 years. For further information, please contact dr. Han La Poutre
(research group leader), tel. +31 20 592 4082, e-mail hlp@cwi.nl. Additional
information about CWI can be found at
http://www.cwi.nl.
Applications can be addressed to: Mrs. J. Koster, Head of the
Personnel Department, CWI, P.O. Box 94079, 1090 GB Amsterdam, The
Netherlands. An application should be accompanied by a curriculum
vitae and an overview of university results."
- Studentships Available at the Centre for Policy Modeling, UK
- From the announcement: "The Centre for Policy Modelling (CPM) has
available one PhD studentship (EPSRC quota award) for a UK resident and one
(or possibly two) studentships covering fees at the rate for EU/EEA
residents. All studentships include a maintenance grant at current UK
research council rates."
- "The CPM is a leading centre for agent based social simulation
modelling. Members of the Centre are working on: integrated assessment
models (EU and UK funded) for water resource management and climate change
polices; electronic commerce; agent-based data-mining in large, federated
databases; agent-based models of sustainable development and resource use;
formal methods applied to agent-based simulation modelling; foundational
social simulation issues relating to socioeconomic modelling for environments
where equilibrium is neither observed nor plausible; software engineering and
language development for complex, real, artificial, and software-based social
systems; methodology of social simulation; effects of representations of
agent cognition on social systems and vice versa; models of different aspects
of social agent cognition; and development of tools within the declarative
paradigm to support social simulation."
- "Anyone interested in working as a PhD student in the CPM is invited
in the first instance to write to Scott Moss or Bruce Edmonds, preferably by
email to {s.moss, b.edmonds}@mmu.ac.uk or by post at the Centre for Policy
Modelling, Manchester Metropolitan University, Aytoun Building, Manchester M1
3GH, UK."
- For more information about the CPM, visit the CPM website at
http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/.
- Federal Reserve Board Openings in Quantitative Macro
- From Robert J. Tetlow (February 2000): "I am in charge of recruiting
two new research assistants for my section here at the Federal Reserve Board.
My section is called Macroeconomics and Quantitative Studies, in the
Division of Research and Statistics. Our's is one of the Board's
most quantitatively oriented and computational intensive. We are in
constant need of talented young research assistants to work with us
in designing and conducting experiments. ..."
- "Ideally, we are looking for dedicated individuals with considerable
mathematical background, some experience working with software such at
MATLAB, Mathematica, Gauss, C, Perl, or other languages and applications. The
ideal person is someone who feels that he or she could use two or three years
of seasoning and experience before going on to graduate school in economics
or finance. This is not the place for people who want to end up in an MBA
program or at an internet start-up company. We pay reasonably well, but
people do not come to us for the money -- they can easily get paid better
elsewhere. They come to us to get experience that they couldn't get anywhere
else."
- "...If you, or your colleagues, know of someone (an American or
someone with permanent resident status) completing his or her undergraduate
training this spring, who would like to see how macroeconomics -- and
particularly quantitative macroeconomics--is actually practiced, we would
appreciate it if you could encourage him or her to contact (me) directly:
Email: Robert.J.Tetlow@frb.gov; Telephone: (202) 452-2437; Facsimile: (202)
452-5296."
Reminder: Items Requested for ACE News Notes and Complexity
Just a reminder that if you have any ACE-related news items, or
any information about ACE-related teaching materials, software,
books, journals, or conferences that you would like to have
considered for inclusion in the ACE news notes, and/or the
Complexity-at-Large section of the John Wiley journal
Complexity, please email them to me (along with website
information if available) at the following address:
tesfatsi@iastate.edu.
Copyright © 2000 Leigh Tesfatsion. All Rights Reserved.