Phase Transitions in Instigated Collective Decision Making

Abstract

This article proposes a computational model for an emergent collective behavior that collectively changes strategy type, such as from attack to defense, as seen in any kind of battle. It describes the result of an experimental simulation with multiple autonomous robots based on the proposed model. Our model first defines payoff functions that create multiple equilibrium states, each of which corresponds to one strategy type. Subsequently, we attempt to model the dynamics that cause the robots to change their choice of strategy type collectively when a small number of robots change their chosen type. In these dynamics, we pay particular attention to how many robots, called instigators, are required to make all robots eventually change their strategy type. In addition, to make it easy for all robots to change their strategy type, we provide a mechanism by which the robots themselves reduce the utility of strategies.