Place: 4274 Chamberlin (Refreshments will be served)
Speaker: Vladimir Zhdankin, UW Department of Physics
Abstract: The emergent behavior of swarming is investigated by using computer simulation. Each biological agent can be represented as a particle being influenced by forces due to the other agents in the system. A short-range repulsive force and long-range attractive force results in cohesive swarming behavior. However, more complicated dynamics can occur when two distinct species are defined to interact with different force laws. In order to recreate predator and prey swarming behavior that has been observed in nature, an "anti-Newtonian" force will be used between the two species, which violates Newton's Third Law. The resulting dynamics display a lush variety of features, including chaos and emergent behavior. The interesting cases will be demonstrated visually through animations that show the simulations unfold.