February 1, 2021
Course Agent Based Modeling
Understanding Complex Adaptive Systems requires tools that themselves are complex to create and understand. Shalizi defines Agent Based Modelling as “An agent is a persistent thing which has some state we find worth representing, and which interacts with other agents, mutually modifying each other’s states. The components of an agent-based model are a collection of agents and their states, the rules governing the interactions of the agents and the environment within which they live.” This course contains 12 chapters. Firstly, an introduction to Complexity and to Agent based modelling is given (chapter 1 and 2). In the next chapters, complex system properties are explained in more detail (chapter 3-7 :Emergence, Path dependence, Adaptiveness, Chaos and instability, Diversity and Self-similarity). Subsequently, in chapter 8, an introduction is given of Robustness and Resilience. Lastly, in chapter 9-12, four other concepts are explained to understand the agent based modelling of complex adaptive systems: Evolution, Network theory and observer dependence. The course can be found on the following link: https://ocw.tudelft.nl/courses/agent-based-modeling-of-complex-adaptive-systems-basic/ This publication also includes various examples (selected research articles) of the use of ABM when it comes to understanding and analyzing resilience. A course summary is also part of the resources. This course relates to the collection "Measuring and Analyzing Resilience of STE Systems."