Ergodic Directional Switching in Mobile Insect Groups

Abstract

We obtain a Fokker-Planck equation describing experimental data on the collective motion of locusts. The noise is of internal origin and due to the discrete character and finite number of constituents of the swarm. The stationary probability distribution shows a rich phenomenology including non-monotonic behavior of several order/disorder transition indicators in noise intensity. This complex behavior arises naturally as a result of the randomness in the system. Its counterintuitive character challenges standard interpretations of noise induced transitions and calls for an extension of this theory in order to capture the behavior of certain classes of biologically motivated models. Our results suggest that the collective switches of the group's direction of motion might be due to a random ergodic effect and, as such, they are inherent to group formation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA531393

Entities

People

  • Carlos Escudero
  • Christian A. Yates
  • Iain Couzin
  • Jerome Buhl
  • Philip K. Maini
  • Radek Ergan
  • Yannís G. Kevrekidis

Organizations

  • Autonomous University of Madrid

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Complex Systems
  • Directional
  • Equations
  • Experimental Data
  • Fokker Planck Equations
  • Indicators
  • Intensity
  • Mathematics
  • Phase Transformations
  • Probability
  • Probability Distributions
  • Standards
  • Switches
  • Switching
  • Transitions

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Mathematical Modeling and Probability Theory.
  • Theoretical Analysis.