Describing Rates of Interaction between Multiple Autonomous Entities: An Example Using Combat Modelling

Abstract

This paper endeavors to show how a fractal-based approach can offer an alternative to differential equations for describing rates of interaction in complex systems. The specific example given is for combat analysis. This concerns a scenario of some similarity to the situation in Mogadishu in 1993, for which military analysts struggled to provide useful analytical tools. It is seen that the correlated dispositions of the entities in the model lend themselves to being described by fractal dimensions. This appears to lead to power laws for the rate of attrition. An equation is suggested to describe this phenomenon. This is particularly interesting because it is an example of a power-law dependent on one of the parameters of the model rather than a temporal or spatial scale.