ARC Complex Open Systems Research Network

Prof Derek Abbott

 

Professor, The University of Adelaide, School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering Address: Prof Derek Abbott School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering The University of Adelaide Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia Phone: +61 8 8303 5748 Fax: +61 8 8303 4360 Email: dabbott@eleceng.adelaide.edu.au Webpage: http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/Groups/parrondo Research Node: South Australia

 

Role in Network

Academic - Researcher

COSNet Research Themes

1. Irreversibility and Emergence in Nonequilibrium Systems
2. Turbulence and Coherent Structures, Control and Computation
3. Dynamics and Statistics of Multi-Scale Systems
4. Network Theory
5. Cellular Automata, Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation

COSNet Application Areas

1. Complex Physical Systems
2. Complex Biological Systems
3. Complex Computational Systems
4. Complex Socio-Economic Systems

 

Research Topics

Investigation of novel entropic and stochastic methods for applications
ranging from authorship detection of texts, DNA classification, HF
modulation recognition and classification of physiological signals. We are
also applying stochastic methods to explore small world networks, large
networks and stock market analysis (econoengineering). We are also
exploring game-theoretic methods in stochastic control and using
agent-based complex-systems simulations and by studying the Parrondo
effect. We are also applying stochastic methods to model the genetic
pathways and growth of cancer. We are employing an agent-based
evolutionary modelling approach to war games to study the effects of
centralised versus decentralised command structures.
 

Publications

1. G.P. Harmer, and D. Abbott, “Parrondo's Paradox,” Statistical Science,
Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 206-213, 1999.
2. G.P. Harmer, D. Abbott, and P. Taylor, “The paradox of Parrondo's
games,” Proc. Trans. Royal Society London A, Vol. 456, pp. 247-259, 2000.
3. G.P. Harmer and D. Abbott, “Parrondo's paradox: losing strategies
cooperate to win,” Nature, Vol. 402, p. 864, 1999.
4. J.M.R. Parrondo, G.P. Harmer and D. Abbott, “New paradoxical games
based on Brownian ratchets,” Phys. Review Letters, Vol. 85, No. 24, pp.
5226-5229, 2000.
5. G.P. Harmer, D. Abbott, P.G. Taylor and J.M.R. Parrondo, “Brownian
ratchets and Parrondo's games,” Chaos, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 705-714, 2001.
6. A.P. Flitney, J. Ng and D. Abbott, “Quantum Parrondo's games,” Physica
A, Vol. 314, pp. 35-42, 2002. quant-ph/0201037.
7. Allison and D. Abbott, “The physical basis for Parrondo's games,”
Fluctuation and Noise Letters, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. L327-L342, 2002
8. Y. Lee, A. Allison, D. Abbott and H.E. Stanley, "Minimal Brownian
ratchet: and exactly solvable model," Physical Review Letters, 220601,
2003.
9. P. Amengual, A. Allison, R. Toral and D. Abbott, "Discrete-time
ratchets, the Fokker-Planck equation and Parrondo's paradox," Proc. Roy.
Soc. London A., Vol. 460, pp. 2269-2284, 2004.
10. J. Ng and D. Abbott, "Introduction to quantum games and a quantum
Parrondo game," Advances in Dynamic Games: Applications to Economics,
Finance, Optimization and Stochastic Control, (Eds: A.S. Nowack and K
Szajowski), Birkhauser, Boston, Vol. 7, pp. 649-665, 2005.  

End-User Applications

Collaborators and/or end-users are: Women & Children’s Hospital (WCH);
Land Operations Division, DSTO; Ebor Computing; and Center for Complex
Systems, University of Michigan, University of Oxford.

Applications: decoding illegal and/or enemy wireless signals of unknown
modulation format; data mining for early warning of terrorist activity;
network security & robustness issues to secure against attack on
communications networks; war game simulation scenarios, stochastic
analysis for risk management; bioinformatics techniques for molecular
biology; stochastic modelling for epidemiology and population genetics,
study of propagation of crime and rumours.  

Professional or Public Outreach Activities

Co-founder of the Fluctuation and Noise conference series that includes a
complex systems stream www.spie.org/events/fn

Organiser of micro/nano conference series that includes a complex systems
stream: www.spie.org/events/au  

Grants

2005 ARC Linkage Project “Millimetre wave communications systems,” $1,650,000
2005 ARC LIEF Infrastructure “National T-ray facility,” $1,350,000 million
2005 ARC Discovery Project “TeraHertz cell cluster imaging,” $800,000
2005 ARC Discovery Project “Quantum path integrals for option pricing,”
$147,000
2004 Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith Foundation “T-ray systems for aerospace,”
$256,000
2004 WA State Govt. “Electron science valley,” $21,000,000
2003 WA State Govt. “WA Centre of excellence for microphotonic systems,”
$2,000,000
2003 GTECH Australasia, “Parrondo's paradox: when losing strategies win,”
$103,000
 

Membership/Fellowship of Key Organisations

Fellow, Institution of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE), USA
Lifetime Fellow, Institute of Physics (IOP), UK  

Awards and Distinctions

1977 General Electric Company (GEC) Bursary Award
1999 Stephen Cole the Elder Prize for Teaching Excellence
2002 PGSA Supervisor of the Year Award
2003 SPIE Scholarship Award for Optical Science and Engineering
2004 Tall Poppy Award for Science
2004 SA Great Award for Science and Technology

Fifteen of Dr Abbott's PhD students have collectively won over 40 awards
including two Fulbright winners, one Premier’s award, one Seimen’s
Innovation Prize (State Division), two Santa Fe Institute visiting
scholarships, one TU Delft visiting scholarship, three PhD University
medallists, one ISDG Best Paper Award, two Australian Academy of Sciences
(AAS) Young Researcher’s Program awards and an Australian Postdoctoral
Fellowship (APD).