Spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkers
We study the formation of trails in populations of self-propelled agents that make oriented deposits of pheromones and also sense such deposits to which they then respond with gradual changes of their direction of motion. Based on extensive off-lattice computer simulations aiming at the scale of ins...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac43ec |
| _version_ | 1797748545611104256 |
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| author | Zahra Mokhtari Robert I A Patterson Felix Höfling |
| author_facet | Zahra Mokhtari Robert I A Patterson Felix Höfling |
| author_sort | Zahra Mokhtari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We study the formation of trails in populations of self-propelled agents that make oriented deposits of pheromones and also sense such deposits to which they then respond with gradual changes of their direction of motion. Based on extensive off-lattice computer simulations aiming at the scale of insects, e.g. ants, we identify a number of emerging stationary patterns and obtain qualitatively the non-equilibrium state diagram of the model, spanned by the strength of the agent–pheromone interaction and the number density of the population. In particular, we demonstrate the spontaneous formation of persistent, macroscopic trails, and highlight some behaviour that is consistent with a dynamic phase transition. This includes a characterisation of the mass of system-spanning trails as a potential order parameter. We also propose a dynamic model for a few macroscopic observables, including the sub-population size of trail-following agents, which captures the early phase of trail formation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:06:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d2d11b8155745b0a459fa8317a00d35 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:06:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d2d11b8155745b0a459fa8317a00d352023-08-09T14:20:08ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302022-01-0124101301210.1088/1367-2630/ac43ecSpontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkersZahra Mokhtari0Robert I A Patterson1Felix Höfling2Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin , Arnimallee 6, 14195 Berlin, GermanyWIAS , Mohrenstr. 39, 10117 Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin , Arnimallee 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Zuse Institute Berlin , Takustraße 7, 14195 Berlin, GermanyWe study the formation of trails in populations of self-propelled agents that make oriented deposits of pheromones and also sense such deposits to which they then respond with gradual changes of their direction of motion. Based on extensive off-lattice computer simulations aiming at the scale of insects, e.g. ants, we identify a number of emerging stationary patterns and obtain qualitatively the non-equilibrium state diagram of the model, spanned by the strength of the agent–pheromone interaction and the number density of the population. In particular, we demonstrate the spontaneous formation of persistent, macroscopic trails, and highlight some behaviour that is consistent with a dynamic phase transition. This includes a characterisation of the mass of system-spanning trails as a potential order parameter. We also propose a dynamic model for a few macroscopic observables, including the sub-population size of trail-following agents, which captures the early phase of trail formation.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac43ecactive matterself-propelled particlespattern formationcooperative behaviouragent-based simulations |
| spellingShingle | Zahra Mokhtari Robert I A Patterson Felix Höfling Spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkers New Journal of Physics active matter self-propelled particles pattern formation cooperative behaviour agent-based simulations |
| title | Spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkers |
| title_full | Spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkers |
| title_fullStr | Spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkers |
| title_short | Spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkers |
| title_sort | spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto chemotactic walkers |
| topic | active matter self-propelled particles pattern formation cooperative behaviour agent-based simulations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac43ec |
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