Math Biology Seminar: Biological aggregation patterns and the role of social interactions

  • Date: 10/22/2009
Lecturer(s):
Chad Higdon-Topaz (Macalester College)
Location: 

University of British Columbia

Description: 

Biological aggregations such as insect swarms, bird flocks, and fish
schools are arguably some of the most common and least understood
patterns in nature. In this talk, I will discuss recent work on
swarming models, focusing on the connection between inter-organism
social interactions and properties of macroscopic swarm patterns. The
first model is a conservation-type partial integrodifferential equation
(PIDE). Social interactions of incompressible form lead to vortex-like
swarms. The second model is a high-dimensional ODE description of
locust groups. The statistical-mechanical properties of the
attractive-repulsive social interaction potential control whether or
not individuals form a rolling migratory swarm pattern similar to those
observed in nature. For the third model, we again return to a
conservation-type PIDE and, via long- and short-wave analysis,
determine general conditions that social interactions must satisfy for
the population to asymptotically spread, contract, or reach steady
state.

Schedule: 

2:00pm-3:00pm, WMAX 110

Other Information: 

For details, please visit the official website at:

http://www.math.ubc.ca/Research/MathBio/seminarsMB.php

Sponsor: 

pims

mitacs