ModelingPetri Net-BasedMulti-Agent ApplicationsbyLawrence CabacDissertationfor the attainment of the degreeDoctor of Natural Sciences(Dr. rer. nat.)University of HamburgFaculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural SciencesDepartment of InformaticsHamburg 2010Approved by:Dr. Daniel Moldt(Supervisor)Prof. Dr. Rudiger Valk(Supervisor)Prof. Dr. Kees van Hee(Referee)University of HamburgFaculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural SciencesDepartment of Informaticsii\Experience is the result, the sign, and the reward of that interaction oforganism and environment which, when it is carried to the full, istransformation of interaction into participation and communication."John Dewey, Art as Experience (1934, p. 22)iiiivAcknowledgementsFirst of all I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr. Daniel Moldt and Prof. Dr. Rudig erValk, for their help and support. The help and ideas of Daniel and his con dence in mywork were a great support. I thank Prof. Dr. Kees van Hee, who acted as external refereeof the presented work.I would also like to thank my colleagues and a liates of the Theoretical FoundationsGroup of the Department of Informatics, University of Hamburg, for their cooperationand assistance. It is a pleasure to work with them. These are: Till D orges, Michael Du-vigneau, Frank Heitmann, Michael K ohler-Bu meier, Kolja Markwardt, Jan Ortmann,Christine Reese, Heiko R olke and Matthias Wester-Ebbinghaus.