Homeostasis in synchronous distributed computation, a formal view (Q1060556)

Our objective is to introduce and illustrate a few basic notions upon which a mathematics of distributed computation can begin to develop. The central issue, as we see it, concerns the existence of a distributed, locally determined, global dynamics which responds homeostatically to a changing environment. This paper contains two elementary examples of such systems expressed in terms of our basic notions. A simple theorem characterizing the existence of such systems in a special case is proved. The theorem, the examples, and the associated discussion demonstrate the utility of our formalism.