DAI-List Digest Thursday, 21 August 1990 Issue Number 13 Topics: Controlling Chaos in Distributed Systems Please send submissions to DAI-List@mcc.com. Send other requests, such as changes in your e-mail address, to DAI-List-Request@mcc.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: New Paper Date: Tue, 21 Aug 90 11:49:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Bernardo Huberman We have a new paper available, entitled "Controlling Chaos in Distributed Systems", by T. Hogg and B. A. Huberman of Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, CA. 94304. The abstract reads as follows: We describe a simple and robust procedure for freezing out chaotic behavior in distributed systems when imperfect and delayed information cannot be avoided. It is based on a reward mechanism whereby the relative number of computational agents following effective strategies is increased at the expense of the others. This procedure, which generates a diverse population out of an essentially homogeneous one, is able to control chaos through a series of dynamical bifurcations into a stable fixed point. Stability boundaries are computed and the minimal amount of diversity required in the system is established.