Computational Experiments for Complex Social Systems:Experiment Design and Generative Explanation

Powered by advanced information technology,more and more complex systems are exhibiting characteristics of the cyber-physical-social systems(CPSS).In this context,computational experiments method has emerged as a novel approach for the design,analysis,management,control,and integration of CPSS,which can realize the causal analysis of complex systems by means of“algorithmization”of“counterfactuals”.However,because CPSS involve human and social factors(e.g.,autonomy,initiative,and sociality),it is difficult for traditional design of experiment(DOE)methods to achieve the generative explanation of system emergence.To address this challenge,this paper proposes an integrated approach to the design of computational experiments,incorporating three key modules:1)Descriptive module:Determining the influencing factors and response variables of the system by means of the modeling of an artificial society;2)Interpretative module:Selecting factorial experimental design solution to identify the relationship between influencing factors and macro phenomena;3)Predictive module:Building a meta-model that is equivalent to artificial society to explore its operating laws.Finally,a case study of crowd-sourcing platforms is presented to illustrate the application process and effectiveness of the proposed approach,which can reveal the social impact of algorithmic behavior on“rider race”.

Experimental study on compression stroke characteristics of free- piston engine generator

The compression stroke characteristics of free-piston engine generator were studied. The numerical model of the compression stroke was established based on thermodynamics and dynamics equation,and the leak loss,heat loss and friction loss were considered. Through solving numerical equations,the in-cylinder pressure of compression stroke under different compression ratios was calculated,energy transfer and conversion process was analyzed,and the calculated results were experimentally verified. The results showed that the actual effective output of electronic energy and the compression energy stored in the com-pressed gas accounted for about 70%. The compression energy gradually increased with the increasing com-pression ratio. When the compression ratio was more than 7. 5,the actual compression energy increased slowly and the energy error between simulation and test decreased.

A New Generator for Tsunami Wave Generation

A middle size experiental wave generator has been implemented is the Ujikawa Open Laboratory, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University. The generator is composed of a pistontype wave maker, a head strage water tank and a current generator to mainly reproduce long waves like tsunami and storm surge. The paper desribes several experimental series to predict the applicability of the generator to model tests. The three operating sysemes are capable to be controlled in one operating sysytem and start time is contorolled separately according with the target tsunami and storm surge profiles. A sharp tsunami profile is reproduced in adjusting the start timing of piston type wave maker and opening gates of head storage tunk. Any type of tsunami waves are reproduced in the generator and it becomes a storong tool to predict the effective of＂resiliency＂ of hardwares.