SIMULATION OF STEADY-STATES IN DISSIPATIVE SYSTEMS BY DARWIN PARADIGM OF EVOLUTION

The basic ideas of a new simulation technique for the determination of stable steady states in dissipative systems using Darwin's paradigm of evolution are presented. It will be shown that the “survival of the fittest”, interpreted as a general mutation-selection-principle, need not to be connected with optimization principles because there is no general extremum principle for dissipative systems. In order to pursue selection a fitness measure is needed. A slight generalization of Prigogine's local potential conception can be used to determine the fitness. Two simple examples are presented to demonstrate the new evolution method. Its advantages are compared with those of the old local potential methods and its connection to iterative schemes being based on local potentials is shown. Copyright © 1990 Walter de Gruyter.