How can self-organisation be studied ?
Since we are seeking general properties that apply to topologically equivalent systems, any physical system or model that provides those connections can be used. Much work has been done using Cellular Automata and Boolean Networks, with Alife, Genetic Algorithms, Neural Networks and similar techniques also widely used. In general we start with a set of rules specifying how the interconnections are allowed to behave, the network is randomly initiated and then iterated (stepped) continually following the ruleset. The stable pattern obtained (if any) is noted and the sequence repeated. After many trials generalisations from the results can be attempted, with some statistical probability.
