The evolution of cooperative chasing on complex networks via a game-based chasing rule

Abstract

Cooperative pursuit, which involves a set of multiple agents with combined effort to capture some target, is a typical kind of collective intelligent behavior in social populations. It is intriguing how autonomous agents communicate and interaction with each other to facilitate collaborative pursuit tactics. In this paper, we consider the scenario of a set of cops to capture a robber on complex networks. A game-based chasing rule is proposed to coordinate the action of cops. It is shown that cooperative pursuit behavior, such as encirclement, can be generated by the proposed game-based chasing rule. Through experiments on different kinds of networks, it is shown that the game-based chasing rule greatly reduces the required capture time, compared to that of independent chasing rule. This study provides new insight into the development of more sophisticated pursuit and evasion behaviors in complex environments.