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Marginal speed confinement resolves the conflict between correlation and control in collective behaviour

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Cavagna

    (UOS Sapienza
    Università Sapienza
    INFN)

  • Antonio Culla

    (UOS Sapienza
    Università Sapienza)

  • Xiao Feng

    (UOS Sapienza
    Università Sapienza)

  • Irene Giardina

    (UOS Sapienza
    Università Sapienza
    INFN)

  • Tomas S. Grigera

    (UOS Sapienza
    Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos CONICET - Universidad Nacional de La Plata
    Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
    Universidad Nacional de La Plata)

  • Willow Kion-Crosby

    (UOS Sapienza
    Università Sapienza)

  • Stefania Melillo

    (UOS Sapienza
    Università Sapienza)

  • Giulia Pisegna

    (UOS Sapienza
    Università Sapienza)

  • Lorena Postiglione

    (UOS Sapienza
    Università Sapienza)

  • Pablo Villegas

    (IMT Institute for Advanced Studies
    Enrico Fermi Research Center (CREF))

Abstract

Speed fluctuations of individual birds in natural flocks are moderate, due to the aerodynamic and biomechanical constraints of flight. Yet the spatial correlations of such fluctuations are scale-free, namely they have a range as wide as the entire group, a property linked to the capacity of the system to collectively respond to external perturbations. Scale-free correlations and moderate fluctuations set conflicting constraints on the mechanism controlling the speed of each agent, as the factors boosting correlation amplify fluctuations, and vice versa. Here, using a statistical field theory approach, we suggest that a marginal speed confinement that ignores small deviations from the natural reference value while ferociously suppressing larger speed fluctuations, is able to reconcile scale-free correlations with biologically acceptable group’s speed. We validate our theoretical predictions by comparing them with field experimental data on starling flocks with group sizes spanning an unprecedented interval of over two orders of magnitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Cavagna & Antonio Culla & Xiao Feng & Irene Giardina & Tomas S. Grigera & Willow Kion-Crosby & Stefania Melillo & Giulia Pisegna & Lorena Postiglione & Pablo Villegas, 2022. "Marginal speed confinement resolves the conflict between correlation and control in collective behaviour," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-29883-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29883-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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