Spontaneous trail formation in populations of auto-chemotactic walkers

Abstract 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 sca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNew journal of physics Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 13012 - 13022
Main Authors Mokhtari, Zahra, Patterson, Robert I A, Höfling, Felix
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol IOP Publishing 01.01.2022
Subjects
active matter
agent-based simulations
cooperative behaviour
Dynamic models
Insects
Order parameters
pattern formation
Phase transitions
Pheromones
Physics
Populations
self-propelled particles
State (computer science)
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Summary:Abstract 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.
Bibliography:NJP-114040.R1
ISSN:1367-2630
1367-2630
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/ac43ec