TY - JOUR
T1 - Boundary information inflow enhances correlation in flocking
AU - Cavagna, Andrea
AU - Giardina, Irene
AU - Ginelli, Francesco
PY - 2013/4/19
Y1 - 2013/4/19
N2 - The most conspicuous trait of collective animal behavior is the emergence of highly ordered structures. Less obvious to the eye, but perhaps more profound a signature of self-organization, is the presence of long-range spatial correlations. Experimental data on starling flocks in 3D show that the exponent ruling the decay of the velocity correlation function, C(r)~1/r¿, is extremely small, ¿ 1. This result can neither be explained by equilibrium field theory nor by off-equilibrium theories and simulations of active systems. Here, by means of numerical simulations and theoretical calculations, we show that a dynamical field applied to the boundary of a set of Heisenberg spins on a 3D lattice gives rise to a vanishing exponent ¿, as in starling flocks. The effect of the dynamical field is to create an information inflow from border to bulk that triggers long-range spin-wave modes, thus giving rise to an anomalously long-ranged correlation. The biological origin of this phenomenon can be either exogenous - information produced by environmental perturbations is transferred from boundary to bulk of the flock - or endogenous - the flock keeps itself in a constant state of dynamical excitation that is beneficial to correlation and collective response.
AB - The most conspicuous trait of collective animal behavior is the emergence of highly ordered structures. Less obvious to the eye, but perhaps more profound a signature of self-organization, is the presence of long-range spatial correlations. Experimental data on starling flocks in 3D show that the exponent ruling the decay of the velocity correlation function, C(r)~1/r¿, is extremely small, ¿ 1. This result can neither be explained by equilibrium field theory nor by off-equilibrium theories and simulations of active systems. Here, by means of numerical simulations and theoretical calculations, we show that a dynamical field applied to the boundary of a set of Heisenberg spins on a 3D lattice gives rise to a vanishing exponent ¿, as in starling flocks. The effect of the dynamical field is to create an information inflow from border to bulk that triggers long-range spin-wave modes, thus giving rise to an anomalously long-ranged correlation. The biological origin of this phenomenon can be either exogenous - information produced by environmental perturbations is transferred from boundary to bulk of the flock - or endogenous - the flock keeps itself in a constant state of dynamical excitation that is beneficial to correlation and collective response.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84876703498&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.168107
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.168107
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84876703498
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 110
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
IS - 16
M1 - 168107
ER -