Eur. Phys. J. B (2015) 88: 136
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2015-60101-y

Regular Article

Evolutionary games played by multi-agent system with different memory capacity

¹ Department of Automation, College of Computer and Control Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P.R. China
² Network Analysis and Control Group, Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen, University of Groningen, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
³ Theoretical Biology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

^a e-mail: zhcy@nankai.edu.cn

Received: 8 February 2015
Received in final form: 25 April 2015
Published online: 1 June 2015

Abstract

The evolution of cooperation is still an enigma. Resolution of cooperative dilemma is a hot topic as a perplexing interdisciplinary project, and has captured wide attention of researchers from many disciplines as a multidisciplinary field. Our main concern is the design of a networked evolutionary game model in which players show difference in memory capability. The idea of different memory capacities has its origin on the pervasive individual heterogeneity of real agents in nature. It is concluded that this proposed multiple memory capacity stimulates cooperation in lattice-structured populations. The networking effect is also investigated via a scale free network which is associated with the heterogeneous populations structure. Interestingly, results suggest that the effectiveness of a heterogeneous network at fostering cooperation is reduced in the presence of individual memory here. A thorough inquiry in the coevolutionary dynamics of individual memory and spatial structure in evolutionary games is planned for the immediate future.