Synergetic Agents

This book addresses both multi robot systems and miniaturization to the nanoscale from a unifying point of view, but without leaving aside typical particularities of either. The unifying aspect is based on the concept of information minimization whose precise formulation is the Haken-Levi-principle. The authors introduce basic concepts of multi-component self-organizing systems such as order parameters (well known from equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase transitions) and the slaving principle (which establishes a link to dynamical systems). Among explicit examples is the docking manoeuvre of two robots in two and three dimensions. The second part of the book deals with the rather recently arising field of molecular robotics. It is particularly here where nature has become a highly influential teacher for the construction of robots. In living biological cells astounding phenomena occur: there are molecules (proteins) that literally walk on polymer strands and transport loads that are heavier than their carriers, or molecules that, by joint action, contract muscles. The book provides the reader with an insight into these phenomena, especially by a detailed theoretical treatment of the molecular mechanism of muscle contraction. At the molecular level, for an appropriate approach the use of quantum theory is indispensable. The authors introduce and use it in a form that avoids all the clumsy calculations of wave-functions. They present a model which is based on an elementary version of quantum field theory and allows taking into account the impact of the surrounding on the quantum mechanical activity of a single molecule. By presenting explicit and pedagogical examples, the reader gets acquainted with the appropriate modelling of the walking behaviour of single molecular robots and their collective behaviour. The further development of multi-robot systems and particularly of molecular robots will require the cooperation of a variety of disciplines. Therefore the book appeals to a wide audience including researchers, instructors, and advanced graduate students.

This volume focuses on the modeling of cognition, and brings together contributions from psychologists and researchers in the field of cognitive science. The shared platform of this work is to advocate a dynamical systems approach to cognition. Several aspects of this approach are considered here: chaos theory, artificial intelligence and Alfie models, catastrophe theory and, most importantly, self-organization theory or synergetics. The application of nonlinear systems theory to cognitive science in general, and to cognitive psychology in particular, is a growing field that has gained further momentum thanks to new contributions from the science of robotics. The recent development in cognitive science towards an account of embodiment, together with the general approach of complexity theory and dynamics, will have a major impact on our psychological understanding of reasoning, thinking and behavior. Contents: Theory and Concepts:Synergetics and Some Applications to Psychology (H Haken)Defending the Dynamical Hypothesis (T van Gelder)From Continuous Dynamics to Symbols (H Jaeger)On Measures for Order and Its Relation to Complexity (J Shiner et al.)Synergetics of Human Creativity (H Knyazeva & H Haken)Dynamical Concepts in Cognitive Psychology:Situated Cognition, Ecological Perception, and Synergetics: A Novel Perspective for Cognitive Psychology? (W Tschacher & J-P Dauwalder)Attitudes and the Self as Self-Organising Systems (R Eiser)An Affect-Centered Model of the Psyche and Its Consequences for a New Understanding of Nonlinear Psychodynamics (L Ciompi)Formation and Adaptation of Schemata (T Bröcker & J Kriz)Simulations of Stagewise Development with a Symbolic Architecture (F Gobet)Autonomous Agents:The Embodied Cognitive Science Approach (C Scheier & R Pfeifer)A Computational Model of Spatial Development (K Hiraki et al.)Societies of Autonomous Agents and Their Reorganization (N Glaser & P Morignot)Investigations into Internal and External Aspects of Dynamic Agent-Environment Couplings (K Dautenhahn)A Formal Theory of Collective Intelligence (W Sulis)Empirical Studies:The Detection of Catastrophe Flags in Personally Relevant Decisions (M Coulson & S Nunn)Synergetic Organization in Speech Rhythm (F Cummins)Exploring the Dynamics of Personality Change with Time Series Models (F Keller et al.)Hierarchical Dynamics Affecting Work Performance in Organizations (S J Guastello) Readership: Psychologists, cognitive scientists, computer scientists, philosophers and biologists. Keywords:Artificial Intelligence (AI);Autonomous Agents;(Embodied) Cognition;(Situated) Cognition;Dynamical Systems;Dynamics;Embodiment;Psychology;Robot;Self-Organization;Synergetics

The book offers a novel approach to the study of the complex dynamics of cities. It is based on (1) Synergetics as a science of cooperation and selforganization, (2) information theory including semantic and pragmatic aspects, and optimization principles, (3) a theory of steady state maintenance, and of (4) phase transition, i.e. qualitative changes of structure or behavior. From this novel theoretical vantage point, the book addresses particularly three issues that stand at the core of current discourse on cities: Urban Scaling, Smart Cities and City Planning. An important consequence of “the 21st century as the age of cities”, is that the study of cities currently attracts scientists from a variety of disciplines, ranging from physics, mathematics and computer science, through urban studies, architecture, planning and human geography, to economics, psychology, sociology, public administration and more. The book is thus likely to attract scholars, researchers and students of these research domains, of complexity theories of cities, as well as of general complexity theory. In addition, it is directed also to practitioners of urbanism, city planning and urban design.

Over the past years the field of synergetics has been mushrooming. An ever increasing number of scientific papers are published on the subject, and numerous conferences all over the world are devoted to it. Depending on the particular aspects of synergetics being treated, these conferences can have such varied titles as "Nonequilibrium Nonlinear Statistical Physics," "Self-Organization," "Chaos and Order," and others. Many professors and students have expressed the view that the present book provides a good introduction to this new field. This is also reflected by the fact that it has been translated into Russian, Japanese, Chinese, German, and other languages, and that the second edition has also sold out. I am taking the third edition as an opportunity to cover some important recent developments and to make the book still more readable. First, I have largely revised the section on self-organization in continuously extended media and entirely rewritten the section on the Benard instability. Sec ond, because the methods of synergetics are penetrating such fields as eco nomics, I have included an economic model on the transition from full employ ment to underemployment in which I use the concept of nonequilibrium phase transitions developed elsewhere in the book. Third, because a great many papers are currently devoted to the fascinating problem of chaotic motion, I have added a section on discrete maps. These maps are widely used in such problems, and can reveal period-doubling bifurcations, intermittency, and chaos.

The aim objective of CME 2014 is to provide a platform for researchers, engineers, academicians as well as industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research results and development activities in Information Management, Innovation Management, Project Management and Engineering. This conference provides opportunities for the delegates to exchange new ideas and application experiences face to face, to establish business or research relations and to find global partners for future collaboration. Submitted conference papers will be reviewed by technical committees of the Conference.

In the last decade, bioimaging and therapy based on near-infrared (NIR) nanomaterials have played an important role in biotechnology due to their intrinsic advantages when compared with the traditional imaging probe and medicine. NIR nanomaterials allow deeper penetration depth, low detection threshold concentration and better targeted performance. This book systematically summarises the recent progress in the fabrication and application of NIR nanomaterials for biomedical imaging and therapy, and discusses the advantages, challenges and opportunities available. Near-infrared Nanomaterials contains achapter highlighting the outlook of these materials, detailing novel ideas for the further application of NIR nanomaterials in bioimaging and medicine. Written by leading experts working in the field, this title will have broad appeal to those working in chemistry, materials science, nanotechnology, biology, bioengineering, biomedical science and biophysics.

These Transactions publish research in computer-based methods of computational collective intelligence (CCI) and their applications in a wide range of fields such as the Semantic Web, social networks and multi-agent systems. TCCI strives to cover new methodological, theoretical and practical aspects of CCI understood as the form of intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals (artificial and/or natural). The application of multiple computational intelligence technologies such as fuzzy systems, evolutionary computation, neural systems, consensus theory, etc., aims to support human and other collective intelligence and to create new forms of CCI in natural and/or artificial systems. This second TCCI issue contains a collection of 10 articles selected from high-quality submissions addressing advances in the foundations and applications of computational collective intelligence.

Complexity, Cognition and the City aims at a deeper understanding of urbanism, while invoking, on an equal footing, the contributions both the hard and soft sciences have made, and are still making, when grappling with the many issues and facets of regional planning and dynamics. In this work, the author goes beyond merely seeing the city as a self-organized, emerging pattern of some collective interaction between many stylized urban "agents" – he makes the crucial step of attributing cognition to his agents and thus raises, for the first time, the question on how to deal with a complex system composed of many interacting complex agents in clearly defined settings. Accordingly, the author eventually addresses issues of practical relevance for urban planners and decision makers. The book unfolds its message in a largely nontechnical manner, so as to provide a broad interdisciplinary readership with insights, ideas, and other stimuli to encourage further research – with the twofold aim of further pushing back the boundaries of complexity science and emphasizing the all-important interrelation of hard and soft sciences in recognizing the cognitive sciences as another necessary ingredient for meaningful urban studies.