The shape and dynamics of local attraction

• Moving animal groups, such as flocks of birds or schools of fish, exhibit complex internal dynamics while moving cohesively in the same direction. This kind of flocking behavior has been studied using self-propelled particle models, in which the `particles' interact with their nearest neighbors through repulsion, attraction and alignment responses. Recently, it has been shown that models based on attraction alone can generate a range of dynamic patterns. Here we investigate the conditions under which attraction-based models are able to reproduce the three dimensional, complex, dynamical patterns seen in natural animal groups. We provide a phase diagram of how attraction strength and blind angle determine the pattern generated in this model. We show that adding repulsion to the model changes the shapes produced, making them look more like natural flocking patterns. We compare our simulations to observations of surf scoters, starlings, moving and rotating fish schools and other flocks. Our results suggest that many biological instances of collective motion might be explained without animals explicitly responding to each others direction. Instead, complex collective motion is explained by the interplay of attraction and repulsion forces.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Matematik -- Annan matematik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Mathematics -- Other Mathematics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

collective motion

flocking

swarming

self-propelled particles

Matematik med inriktning mot tillämpad matematik

Mathematics with specialization in Applied Mathematics

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)