Pair Formation within Multi-Agent Populations

We present a simple model for the formation of pairs in multi-agent populations of type A and B which move freely on a spatial network. Each agent of population A (and B) is labeled as Ai (and Bj) with i=1,.. NA (and j=1,..NB) and carries its own individual list of characteristics or 'phenotype'. When agents from opposite populations encounter one another on the network, they can form a relationship if not already engaged in one. The length of time for which any given pair stays together depends on the compatibility of the two constituent agents. Possible applications include the human dating scenario, and the commercial domain where two types of businesses A and B have members of each type looking for a business partner, i.e. Ai+Bj-->Rij. The pair Rij then survives for some finite time before dissociating Rij-->Ai+Bj. There are many possible generalizations of this basic setup. Here we content ourselves with some initial numerical results for the simplest of network topologies, together with some accompanying analytic analysis.Comment: Special Issue on Complex Networks, edited by Dirk Helbin

Fractal Growth from Local Instabilities

We study, both with numerical simulations and theoretical methods, a cellular automata model for continuum equations describing growth processes in the presence of an external flux of particles. As a result of local instabilities we find a fractal regime of growth for small external fluxes. The growing tip is selected with probability proportional to the curvature in the point. A parameter $p$ gives the probability of lateral growth on the tip. The value of $p$ determines the fractal dimension of the aggregate. Furthermore, for each value of $p$ a cross-over between two different fractal dimensions is observed. Instead, the roughness exponent $\chi$ of the aggregates does not depend on $p$ ($\chi \simeq 0.5$). Fixed scale transformation approach is applied to compute theoretically the fractal dimension for one of the branches of the structure.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to EP

Chronology Protection in AdS/CFT

We review the issue of chronology protection and show how string theory can solve it in the half BPS sector of AdS/CFT. According to the LLM prescription, half BPS excitations of AdS_5 x S^5 geometries in type IIB string theory can be mapped into free fermion configurations. We show that unitarity of the theory describing these fermions is intimately related to the protection of the chronology in the dual geometries.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, contribution to the proceedings of the RTN workshop "Constituents, Fundamental Forces and Symmetries of the Universe", Corfu, Greece, 20-26 September 200

A note on simple applications of the Killing Spinor Identities

We show how the Killing Spinor Identities (KSI) can be used to reduce the number of independent equations of motion that need to be checked explicitly to make sure that a supersymmetric configuration is a classical supergravity solution. We also show how the KSI can be used to compute BPS relations between masses and charges.Comment: 10 pages, latex2e. Comments and references added. Version to be published in Physics Letters