Introducing agent-based models

Agent-based simulation (ABM) is a class of computational models aimed at the computer simulation of actions and interactions of autonomous agents to evaluate their effects on the overall system. ABMs incorporate intelligent elements capable of learning, adapting, evolving, or following unpredictable logic. One of the key features, which turns out to be one of the strengths of this methodology, is the bottom-up approach, which, considering the interactions of the individual elements of the system, tries to determine the emergent characteristics produced by these interactions. These characteristics are not explicit of the system but emerge from the interaction of the group of agents who act independently, are oriented towards achieving their specific goal, and interact in a shared environment.

The applications of ABM are many and particularly useful. They are usually used to study phenomena that are too complex to be faithfully reproduced and/or expensive...