Abstract
This interdisciplinary lecture provides an introduction to the disciplines of artificial life and complex systems science.
In addition to the theoretic lecture, the student will have the opportunity to further his/her understanding of the subject
through the completion of a hands-on project.
The topics covered are, among others:
- Emergence and self-organisation
- Complexity
- Fractals
- Pattern formation
- Cellular automata
- Morphogenesis
- Lindenmeyer systems
- Distributed and swarm intelligence
- Artificial societies
- Evolution of cooperation
- Artificial evolution
- Self-assembly
- Self-replication
- Computational ecologies
- Agent-based modeling
Special attention will be devoted to the interrelations between these topics, and other subject matters, such as
physics, biology, economy, ecology, and artificial intelligence. In order not to loose touch with the real world the
course will discuss many applications of artificial life and complex systems science.
Hands-on Project and Exam
There will not be any homework assignments, but everybody will have to work on a hands-on project.
It should be fun and stimulating, and should keep you "busy" for roughly 40-60 hours/person.
Depending on background, students will either tackle a literature review project or a
software project (e.g. using NetLogo,
Matlab or any programming language of choice). The ideal result of the hands-on projet will be a
"short" scientific paper/report, 4-10 pages long, written in German or in English. The project is to
be completed in groups of two or individually. The deadline is July 13 (a Friday).
The topics will be decided in the second week of the course (June 1 or June 2), but I am happy to discuss
ideas or to make suggestions anytime (just send me an email). At the end of the course (June 29), there
will be a written exam which will count proportionally less the better the outcome of the project will be.
The exam will take place on June 29, 2007 from 14:00 to 15:00 in room BIN 2.A.01. Note that
it will be a closed-book exam (in other words: you are not allowed to bring along the lecture notes).
Prep Questions
We have assembled a number of questions
to give you ways to practice the contents of the lecture. You are furthermore encouraged to
submit your own questions!
Contact
Max Lungarella, email = maxl AT isi DOT imi DOT i DOT u-tokyo DOT ac DOT jp
Deadlines
An-/Abmeldeschluss: Fr 25.6.2007 (18h) via Buchungstool. Achtung! Nach der offiziellen Deadline vom 13.4.07,
können Sie sich nur noch via Lehrbereichssekretariat buchen oder Ihre Buchung stornieren lassen - und zwar mit Mail
an: ludi@ifi.unizh.ch (mit allen erforderlichen Angaben). Zur Abmeldung muss zusätzlich das Formular
"AP-Abmeldung" mitgeschickt werden (http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/ifiadmin/staff/rofrei/APS/Formulare.html)
Students from other universities or participants of exchange programs should check the
following link:
Lecture notes
For any problems, questions, or suggestions, please contact me.
Slides
Literature
A preliminary list of suggested books
has been compiled for your reference.
Links
