_Northrop Nortronics_
_Systems Support Department_
_Anaheim, California_
Self-organization is defined and several examples
which motivate this definition are presented. The
significance of this definition is explored by
comparison with the metrization problem discussed
in the companion paper (1) and it is seen that
self-organization requires decomposing the space
representing the environment. In the absence
of a priori knowledge of the environment, the
self-organizing machine must resort to a sequence
of projections on unit spheres to effect this
decomposition. Such a sequence of projections
can be provided by repeated use of a nilpotent
projection operator (NPO). An analog computer
mechanization of one such NPO is discussed
and the signal processing behavior of the NPO
is presented in detail using the Euclidean
geometrical representation of the metrizable
topology provided in the companion paper.
Self-organizing systems using multiple NPO’s
are discussed and current areas of research are
identified.