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Chapter16
EvolutionofCooperationinAdaptiveSocialNetworks
Sven Van Segbroeck
COMO, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Francisco C. Santos
IRIDIA, Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Arne Traulsen
Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, D-24306 Plon, Germany
Tom Lenaerts
MLG, Departement d'Informatique, Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and
Computer Science Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB),
B-1050, Belgium
Jorge M. Pacheco
ATP-Group and CFTC,
Departamento de F sica da Faculdade de Ciencias,
P-1649-003 Lisboa Codex, Portugal
Humans are organized in societies, a phenomenon that would never have been
possible without the evolution of cooperative behavior. Several mechanisms that
foster this evolution have been unraveled over the years, with population struc-
ture as a prominent promoter of cooperation. Modern networks of exchange and
cooperation are, however, becoming increasingly volatile, and less and less based
on long-term stable structure. Here, we address how this change of paradigm
aects the evolution of cooperation. We discuss analytical and numerical models
in which individuals can break social ties and create new ones. Interactions are
modeled as two-player dilemmas of cooperation. Once a link between two indi-
viduals has formed, the productivity of this link is evaluated. Links can be broken
o at dierent rates. This individual capacity of forming new links or severing
inconvenient ones can eectively change the nature of the game. We address ran-
dom formation of new links and local linking rules as well as dierent individual
capacities to maintain social interactions. We conclude by discussing how adap-
tive social networks can become an important step towards more realistic models
of cultural dynamics.
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