101 research outputs found
Spatio-Temporal Patterns for a Generalized Innovation Diffusion Model
We construct a model of innovation diffusion that incorporates a spatial
component into a classical imitation-innovation dynamics first introduced by F.
Bass. Relevant for situations where the imitation process explicitly depends on
the spatial proximity between agents, the resulting nonlinear field dynamics is
exactly solvable. As expected for nonlinear collective dynamics, the imitation
mechanism generates spatio-temporal patterns, possessing here the remarkable
feature that they can be explicitly and analytically discussed. The simplicity
of the model, its intimate connection with the original Bass' modeling
framework and the exact transient solutions offer a rather unique theoretical
stylized framework to describe how innovation jointly develops in space and
time.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure
Cooperative dynamics of loyal customers in queueing networks
We consider queueing networks (QN's) with feedback loops roamed by "intelligent” agents, able to select their routing on the basis of their measured waiting times at the QN nodes. This is an idealized model to discuss the dynamics of customers who stay loyal to a service supplier, provided their service time remains below a critical threshold. For these QN's, we show that the traffic flows may exhibit collective patterns typically encountered in multi-agent systems. In simple network topologies, the emergent cooperative behaviors manifest themselves via stable macroscopic temporal oscillations, synchronization of the queue contents and stabilization by noise phenomena. For a wide range of control parameters, the underlying presence of the law of large numbers enables us to use deterministic evolution laws to analytically characterize the cooperative evolution of our multi-agent systems. In particular, we study the case where the servers are sporadically subject to failures altering their ordinary behavio
Imitation, proximity and growth - A collective swarm dynamics approach
This paper is based on the premise that economic growth is driven by an
interplay between innovation and imitation in an economy composed of
interacting firms operating in a stochastic environment. A novel approach to
modeling imitation is presented, based on range-dependent processes that
describe how firms consider proximity when imitating peers who are found in a
given neighborhood in terms of productivity. Using a particularly tractable
approach, we are able to analyze how drastically different economic growth
scenarios emerge from different imitation strategies. These emerging scenarios
range from diffusive growth where the variance of productivity grows
indefinitely, to balanced growth described by a traveling wave with fixed
variance. The latter scenario is sustained only when imitation strength among
firms exceeds a critical bifurcation threshold
Centralized Versus Decentralized Control - A Solvable Stylized Model in Transportation
To analyze the potential outcomes resulting from interaction between autonomous decision-making "smart parts" in logistics networks, we propose here an exactly solvable stylized model that is able to quantify how much the dynamics can be enhanced by (fully decentralized) agent-based mechanisms. Cost functions are introduced in order to compare the performances of centralized versus decentralized organization and we are enable to conclude that for time horizons shorter than a critical value, multi-agent interactions generate smaller costs that an optimal effective central controller
Multi-Agent Adaptive Mechanism Leading to Optimal Real-Time Load Sharing
We propose a new real-time load sharing policy (LSP), which optimally dispatches the incoming workload according to the current availability of the operators. Optimality means here that the global service permanently requires the engagement of a minimum number of operators while still respecting due dates. To cope with inherent randomness due to operator failures as well as non-stationary fluctuating incoming workload, any optimal LSP rule will necessarily rely on real-time updating mechanisms. Accordingly, a permanent monitoring of the traffic workload, of the queue contents and of other relevant dynamic state variables is often realized by a central workload dispatcher. In this contribution, we abandon such a "classical" approach and we propose a fully decentralized algorithm which fulfils the optimal load sharing process. The underlying decentralized decisions rely on a "smart tasks" paradigm in which each incoming task is endowed with an autonomous routing decision mechanism. Incoming jobs hence possess, in this paper, the status of autonomous agents endowed with "local intelligence". Stigmergic interactions between these agents cause the optimal LSP to emerge. We emphasize that beside a manifest strict relevance for applications, our class of models is analytically tractable, a rather uncommon feature when dealing with multi-agent dynamics and complex adaptive logistics systems
Weariness and Loyalty Loss in Recurrent Service Models
For recurrent service providers (fast-food, entertainment, medical care,...), retaining loyal customers is obviously a key issue. The customers' loyalty essentially depends on their service satisfaction defined via an ad-hoc utility function. Among several criteria, the utility function strongly depends on the past perceived waiting time. Moreover, the patience that customers consent to allow in waiting does often decrease as a function of the successive utilizations of the service (i.e. weariness). We propose here an idealized queueing model in which the customers' loyalty is determined only by the individual experience gained during the successive visits to a service (i.e. the waiting time and the number of services yet recieved). For regimes where the law of large numbers holds, a deterministic approach enables to analytically discuss the resulting multi-agent dynamics governing the customers' flows. One is able, in particular, to fully calculate, analytically, the characteristics of the emerging complex patterns (i.e. here structured temporal oscillations) which are observed to be strongly structurally stable
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