Applying Petri Nets to Coalition Formation Modeling

In the paper, formation of coalitions with the agents of an alliance is considered. It is assumed that the agents of an alliance can negotiate with each other, form coalitions and interact eventually. Only not self-interested agents are considered. Nevertheless, the agents may have their own strategies while choosing the partners for negotiations. It is also assumed that some of the agents may refuse to cooperate with some other agents of the same alliance. Coalition formation is a complex process which has many probabilistically defined parameters. Therefore, it is difficult to determine which coalition will be formed and how long it will last. To solve the coalition formation task effectively, appropriate modeling is commonly used. In the paper, it is shown how Stochastic Petri Nets can be applied to coalition formation modeling. Simulation was performed by using the devised coalition formation model, and the obtained results were analyzed.