Monday, January 23, 2006

A 3D Hierarchical Multi-Agent System for studying Cosmological Complexity

We have designed a hierarchical 3D multi-agent system for studying complexity at the cosmological level (see previous post on M31). Each agent is characterized by a set of properties: its position, velocity and mass, but also its diameter, density, viscosity, spin, etc. There are three simulation levels: (1) inside each agent (internal gravity that can lead to star formation, supernova, etc.), (2) local interactions between agents (viscosity) and (3) global interactions between agents (gravity and expansion). These two pictures (two different views of the same configuration) show an elliptical galaxy with an angular momentum. This dynamical structure has emerged from a random spatial distribution of 10,000 agents in the 3D space. Current thinking is that an elliptical galaxy is the result of a long process where two galaxies of comparable mass, of any type, collide and merge. This was not the case here...

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