Non-local interactions in collective motion.

ABSTRACT: The collective motion of animal groups often exhibits velocity-velocity correlations between nearest neighbours, with the strongest velocity correlations observed at the shortest inter-animal spacings. This may have been a motivational factor in the development of models based primarily on short-ranged interactions. Here we ask whether such observations necessarily mean that the interactions are short-ranged. We develop a minimal model of collective motion capable of supporting interactions of arbitrary range and show that it represents a counterexample: the strongest velocity correlations emerge at the shortest distances, even when the interactions are explicitly non-local.

SUBMITTER: King AEBT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8074972 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature