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Approximating the Behaviours of Physarum polycephalum for the Construction and Minimisation of Synthetic Transport Networks

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Book cover Unconventional Computation (UC 2009)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 5715))

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Abstract

The single celled organism Physarum polycephalum efficiently constructs and minimises dynamical nutrient transport networks resembling proximity graphs. We present a model multi-agent population which collectively approximates the network behaviours of Physarum. We demonstrate spontaneous transport network formation and evolution and show that the collective population also exhibits quasi-physical emergent properties, allowing the collective population to be considered as a virtual computing material - a synthetic plasmodium. This material is used as an unconventional method to approximate spatially represented geometry problems. We demonstrate three different methods for the construction, evolution and minimisation of Physarum-like transport networks which approximate Steiner trees, relative neighbourhood graphs, convex hulls and concave hulls. The results span the Toussaint hierarchy of proximity graphs, suggesting that the foraging and minimising behaviours of Physarum reflect interplay between maximising foraging area and minimising transport distance. The properties and behaviours of the synthetic virtual plasmodium may be useful in future physical instances of unconventional computing devices, and may also provide clues to the generation of emergent computation behaviours by Physarum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Unconventional Computing, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK

    Jeff Jones

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  1. Jeff Jones
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, The University of Auckland, Science Centre, 38 Princes, 1142, St., Auckland, New Zealand

    Cristian S. Calude

  2. Centro de Matemática e Aplicações Fundamentais do Complexo Interdisciplinar, University of Lisbon, Av. Gama Pinto, 1649-003, Lisboa, Portugal

    José Félix Costa

  3. School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Ramat Aviv, Israel

    Nachum Dershowitz

  4. Department of Mathematics, University of Azores, Rua da Mãe de Deus, 9501-855, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

    Elisabete Freire

  5. Leiden Center of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 1, 2333, Leiden, CA, The Netherlands

    Grzegorz Rozenberg

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Jones, J. (2009). Approximating the Behaviours of Physarum polycephalum for the Construction and Minimisation of Synthetic Transport Networks. In: Calude, C.S., Costa, J.F., Dershowitz, N., Freire, E., Rozenberg, G. (eds) Unconventional Computation. UC 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5715. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03745-0_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03745-0_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-03744-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-03745-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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