Modelling Multi-agent Systems with Category Theory

The aim of this paper is to formalize the connection between two widely separated branches of knowledge: multi-agent systems (MAS) and category theory. The relationship of category theory to multi-agent systems is as follows: (1) agents and their relations are represented as categorical concepts; and (2) verification of system properties becomes constructive proof in category theory. Proposing a categorical approach to specify MAS properties requires a deep understanding of both the system and these properties in order to be able to abstract and reason about them in a categorical framework. The paper uses the MAS fault-tolerance property as an application of the categorical proof.