Random mobility and the evolution of cooperation in spatial N-player iterated Prisoner's Dilemma games

Abstract

We study the effects of random mobility on the evolution of cooperation in a spatial version of the N-player Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma game, where individuals are located on a two-dimensional regular lattice with periodic boundary conditions. The probability that an individual moves from its current location is based on the amount of time it has occupied a given position and the relative fitness values of the individual occupying the destination position. Our results show that random movement can promote cooperative behaviour in N-player games. In some circumstances, random mobility enhances system-wide cooperation levels when compared to the static model. However, the outcome is strictly ..