Physics of Competition Cooperation and Conflict COST Action

Physics of Competition, Cooperation and Conflict COST Action MP 0801 Peter Richmond

COST: supporting European cooperation in science and technology The 27 EU Member States EFTA Member States Iceland Norway Switzerland Acceding & Candidate Countries Croatia FYR of Macedonia (FYROM) Turkey Potential Candidate Countries Republic of Serbia COST Co-operating States Israel

COST Neighbouring Countries COST countries COST neighbouring countries Russia (45) BELARUS ● Special budget line in the COST system to facilitate collaborations ● Specific exchange activities (Short Term Scientific Missions, focus on Early Stage Researchers) Moldova (2) Bosnia & Herzegovina (2) Ukraine (15) Georgia (3) GEORGIA Azerbaijan (1) SYRIA Morocco (1) IRAQ TUNISIA Tunisia (2) LIBYA 76 participations in 36 Actions Algeria (2) Egypt (3)

COST Actions: global participation GREENLAND ALASKA (USA) Russia (45) Canada (20) Bosnia & Herzegovina (2) Ukraine (15) BELARUS Moldova (2) Georgia (3) China (6) Azerbaijan (1) KAZAKHSTAN MONGOLIA Andorra (1) UZBEKISTAN GEORGIA USA (26) Morocco (1) SYRIA LIBYA EGYPT SAUDI ARABIA MEXICO Cuba (1) Rep of Korea (2) IRAN Palestinian auth. (1) Tunisia (2) Algeria (2) Egypt (3) ALGERIA WESTERN SAHARA UAE OMAN PAKISTAN NEPAL Vietnam (1) INDIA VIETNAM MYANMAR MAURITANIA LAOS MALI NIGER THAILAND YEMEN SENEGAL NICARAGUA BURKINA India (1) NIGERIA PANAMA GHANA VENEZUELA LIBERIA GUYANA FRENCH SURINAME GUIANA Colombia (1) PHILIPPINES CAMBODIA GUINEA COSTA RICA Hong Kong (1) CHAD SUDAN GUATEMALA HONDURAS NORTH KOREA TAHKISTAN AFGHANISTAN IRAQ TUNISIA COTE D’IVOIRE Japan (13) KYRGYZSTAN TURKMENISTAN SRI LANKA CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CAMEROON MALAYSIA SOMALIA UGANDA KENYA Malaysia (1) GABON CONGO ECUADOR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO TANZANIA INDONESIA PERU PAPUA NEW GUINEA ANGOLA UE ZAMBIA Neighbouring Countries Reciprocal agreements countries AM PARAGUAY ZIMBABWE MADAGASCAR OZ Brazil (1) M COST countries BIQ BOLIVIA NAMIBIA BOTSWANA Australia (30) URUGUAY CHILE Argentina (4) South Africa (1) New Zealand (6) 194 participations in 69 Actions (28 countries)

COST main characteristics • “Bottom-up”, initiative from researchers, no fixed programmes/ priorities, equal access via OPEN CALL • Basic & pre-competitive research as well as activities of public utility • Flexible ‘á la carte’ participation, only need to sign Mo. U • Coordination through cooperation in networks with multidisciplinary focus • Networks based on national funding of researchers and projects • Pan-European dimension, open to global cooperation of mutual interest

What is funded by COST? • COST Actions: Nationally funded projects (min. 5 participating countries) with joint work programme • Support networking via – – – – Science management meetings Scientific workshops and seminars Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) Conference Grants Early Stage Researcher (ESR) Grants Training Schools and Research Conferences Dissemination • Average funding about 100 000 € per year per Action (~20 signatures) • Exploratory/Strategic Workshops: to explore future scientific or societal needs, support policy developments or initiate new activities

World is increasingly COMPLEX • People, nations, economies, environments, elements of industry & business now strongly coupled > competition, cooperation & conflict – Information & communication systems • Internet, world wide web, electricity networks, telecommunications, land / air traffic & pedestrian flow depend critically network structure – Business • seeks more effective decision support tools for resource allocation, supply chain management – Politicians, business & society at large • seek to understand attitudes & behaviour. – voting, referenda, taxation & wealth redistribution, consumer demand, social unrest, conflict resolution, – Finance • learning new routes to prediction & control of risk – Epidemics in both human and animal communities • demand improved methods for analysis & prediction of crises - spread of disease, food safety, alcohol & drug addiction – Environmental phenomena • climate change, weather, quake warnings, tsunamis demand new approaches to dynamical processes – Biologists • seek new models to analyse protein folding, genomes, organisms & evolution with implications for life expectancy (life assurance, pensions)

“I think the 21 st century will be the century of complexity” Stephen Hawking “Understanding ‘Complex Systems’ is one of the grand challenges facing the quantitative sciences at the turn of the 21 st century” US National Academy of Sciences

John von Neumann 1950 • Science and technology will shift from emphasis on motion, force & energy to communication, organization, programming & control. • Add: Complexity, structure, form, function, information, computation, emergence, evolution, …

Research Ø In strongly interacting world composed of many elements or agents, interactions lead to large amplitude events Ø Ø Fluctuations non Gaussian. Agents adapt dynamically via evolving networks; Structures characterized by self organisation & emergence States frequently far removed from equilibrium Ø Systems characterized by multiple spatial & time scales Ø Societies interact as individuals, groups, organisations, countries Ø Networks not simple – scalefree! Ø Stock prices (times range from seconds to hundreds of years) Ø Research: holistic & multi-disciplinary Ø Methodologies originate in mathematics & physics. Ø Extend throughout natural sciences, engineering & computer science into economics, social and political sciences

Evolution • Evolution of complex systems is result of competition and cooperation leading to concurrent groups or communities. • Evolution often not smooth but rather punctuated as conflict between units leads to burst-like, sudden events. • Phenomena are ubiquitous – observed across biology, spreading of innovation, social turmoil, market crash/bubbles • Number of tools, partly developed within physics, are helpful in this context – self-organized criticality, evolutionary games, dynamics of complex networks etc.

Physics of Competition, Cooperation and Conflict Overall objectives • Apply modern statistical physics, mathematics & computational physics to problems associated with competition and conflicts such as occur in social, political, economic, historical contexts & other areas • Demonstrate application of methodologies is not only appropriate but that basic principles underpinning social phenomena exist and can be identified

Physics of Competition, Cooperation and Conflict Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Rep, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom plus Australia, Argentina, Japan

Five working groups • • • WG 1 Information & Knowledge Andrea Scharnhorst NL – What is available; databases, etc? – Empirical models > added concepts • non Markovian, long memory, etc WG 2 Agents and Games theory Christophe Diessenberg FR – human behaviour; cooperation; competition • consumer choice; technological forecasting; competition between firms > economic policy WG 3 Complex networks Stefan Thurner AT – friendships; power transmission; WWW; bank networks & payment flows – heterogeneity > marketing; internet advertising – dynamic and growing networks WG 4 Evolution and co-evolution Anxo Sanchez ES – Cultural evolution and emergence; strategies to cope (imitation; contrariness; evolution of hierarchies • language- culture-politics • markets; value versus growth WG 5 Technology & Risk Management Vittorio Rosato IT – Robust infrastructures; transport systems; communication networks; crowds – Integration of sensors & risk management

Coordination & management • MC debate and agree policy; set direction • Sub committee - Chair, Deputy Chair + 5 WG coordinators) • Agree STSMs, implement MC policy during year • Web site • Liaise with other EC programmes via participants • Encourage new bids to emerging programmes

Programme 2008 -9 • KO Admin meeting – Brussels 22 Sept 2008 • WG 4 Evolution – Madrid 26 -28 Jan 2009 • WG 1 Competition of beliefs – Paderborn 2 -4 Feb 2009 • WG 4 Anthropology and physics: prospects & challenges – Durham 15 -17 April 2009 • Annual meeting – Rome 27 -29 May 2009 • STSMs

Target Groups/ End Users • Social scientists and economic community • Companies – providing policy advice (e. g. Volterra) – developing technology • Young researchers across entire ERA and beyond • Researchers of complex systems, including Companies: ICT development: interaction between society and technology

Dissemination • Who and what? – – Research community (papers) Commercial impact (WG 5) Training (STSM) Consumer and regulatory impact (from contact with social scientists and economists) • How? – – – Publications – papers, books, proceedings; Training schools; invited experts at meetings; Annual meeting Embed activity into other meetings Web site

Benefits • New science – Nature of networks • work with others; not just characterize geometry – Emergence of cooperation & conflict • Economic & social conflict – Evolution – Can we quantify human nature • emotion; happiness, religion, fear, greed, etc