Dynamic Multi-Agent Systems : Conceptual Framework, Automata-Based Modelling and Verification

We study dynamic multi-agent systems (dmass). These are multi-agent systems with explicitly dynamic features, where agents can join and leave the system during the evolution. We propose a general conceptual framework for modelling such dmass and argue that it can adequately capture a variety of important and representative cases. We then present a concrete modelling framework for a large class of dmass, composed in a modular way from agents specified by means of automata-based representations. We develop generic algorithms implementing the dynamic behaviour, namely addition and removal of agents in such systems. Lastly, we state and discuss several formal verification tasks that are specific for dmass and propose general algorithmic solutions for the class of automata representable dmass