Complex adaptive system

Complex adaptive system (CAS) are a special case of complex systems. They are complex because they are composed of many elements and they are adaptive because they show a special ability to adapt to their environment and have the opportunity to learn ( from experience). The name of complex adaptive systems has been developed in the interdisciplinary Santa Fe Institute by John H. Holland, Murray Gell-Mann and others. Holland is another later inventor of the evolutionary algorithm, it was founded in 1973 by Ingo Rechenberg ( Rechenberg, 1973) developed and supported mathematically. With the name John Holland is associated the introduction of the genetic algorithm originally developed by Nobel laureate Gell-Mann, actually the discoverer of quarks.

The term complex adaptive systems (or complexity theory ) refers to a vast academic field. Complexity theory is not a single theory, it comprises more than one theoretical framework and is highly interdisciplinary by seeking answers to fundamental questions of living, adaptable, changeable systems.

Examples of such complex adaptive systems are the stock market, social insect and ant colonies, the biosphere and the ecosystem, the brain and the immune system, cell and embryonic development company for manufacturing and services, groups in social systems such as political parties and communities. There is a close relationship between complex adaptive systems and artificial life. In both areas, the principles of emergence and self-organization are very important.

Definitions

A complex adaptive system is a complex, self-similar collective of interacting adaptive agents.

• John H. Holland, " Cas [ complex adaptive systems] are systems thathave a large numbers of components, Often called agents, did interact and adapt or learn. "

Properties of complex adaptive systems

What complex adaptive systems differs from pure multi-agent systems, are features such as self - similarity, complexity, emergence and self-organization. A multi-agent system is simply defined as multiple, interacting agents. In complex adaptive systems, both the agents and the system are adaptive: the system is self-similar. A complex adaptive system is a complex, self-similar collective of interacting adaptive agents.

Other important properties are adaptation (sometimes called homeostasis ), communication, specialization, spatial and temporal organization, and of course reproduction. They show up at all levels: cells specialize, adapt and reproduce themselves as well as larger organisms. Communication and cooperation takes place on all levels, from the agent to the system level.