Collective behaviour in biological systems is often accompanied by strong correlations. The question has therefore arisen of whether correlation is amplified by the vicinity to some critical point in the parameters space. Biological systems, though, are typically quite far from the thermodynamic limit, so that the value of the control parameter at which correlation and susceptibility peak depend on size. Hence, a system would need to readjust its control parameter according to its size in order to be maximally correlated. This readjustment, though, has never been observed experimentally. By gathering three-dimensional data on swarms of midges in the field we find that swarms tune their control parameter and size so as to maintain a scaling behaviour of the correlation function. As a consequence, correlation length and susceptibility scale with the system's size and swarms exhibit a near-maximal degree of correlation at all sizes.

Collective behavior in biological systems is often accompanied by strong correlations. The question has therefore arisen of whether correlation is amplified by the vicinity to some critical point in the parameters space. Biological systems, though, are typically quite far from the thermodynamic limit, so that the value of the control parameter at which correlation and susceptibility peak depend on size. Hence, a system would need to readjust its control parameter according to its size in order to be maximally correlated. This readjustment, though, has never been observed experimentally. By gathering three-dimensional data on swarms of midges in the field we find that swarms tune their control parameter and size so as to maintain a scaling behavior of the correlation function. As a consequence, correlation length and susceptibility scale with the system’s size and swarms exhibit a near-maximal degree of correlation at all sizes.

Finite-size scaling as a way to probe near-criticality in natural swarms / Attanasi, Alessandro; Cavagna, Andrea; L., Del Castello; Giardina, irene rosana; Melillo, Stefania; Parisi, Leonardo; O., Pohl; B., Rossaro; E., Shen; E., Silvestri; Viale, Massimiliano. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS. - ISSN 0031-9007. - 113:(2014), pp. 238102-238102. [10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.238102]

Finite-size scaling as a way to probe near-criticality in natural swarms

ATTANASI, ALESSANDRO;CAVAGNA, ANDREA;GIARDINA, irene rosana;MELILLO, STEFANIA;PARISI, LEONARDO;VIALE, Massimiliano
2014

Abstract

Collective behaviour in biological systems is often accompanied by strong correlations. The question has therefore arisen of whether correlation is amplified by the vicinity to some critical point in the parameters space. Biological systems, though, are typically quite far from the thermodynamic limit, so that the value of the control parameter at which correlation and susceptibility peak depend on size. Hence, a system would need to readjust its control parameter according to its size in order to be maximally correlated. This readjustment, though, has never been observed experimentally. By gathering three-dimensional data on swarms of midges in the field we find that swarms tune their control parameter and size so as to maintain a scaling behaviour of the correlation function. As a consequence, correlation length and susceptibility scale with the system's size and swarms exhibit a near-maximal degree of correlation at all sizes.
2014
Collective behavior in biological systems is often accompanied by strong correlations. The question has therefore arisen of whether correlation is amplified by the vicinity to some critical point in the parameters space. Biological systems, though, are typically quite far from the thermodynamic limit, so that the value of the control parameter at which correlation and susceptibility peak depend on size. Hence, a system would need to readjust its control parameter according to its size in order to be maximally correlated. This readjustment, though, has never been observed experimentally. By gathering three-dimensional data on swarms of midges in the field we find that swarms tune their control parameter and size so as to maintain a scaling behavior of the correlation function. As a consequence, correlation length and susceptibility scale with the system’s size and swarms exhibit a near-maximal degree of correlation at all sizes.
SCALAR NOISE MODEL; PHASE-TRANSITION; COLLECTIVE MOTION; ANOPHELES-GAMBIAE; 3 DIMENSIONS; DIPTERA; BEHAVIOR; FLOCKS; CHIRONOMIDAE; DYNAMICS
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Finite-size scaling as a way to probe near-criticality in natural swarms / Attanasi, Alessandro; Cavagna, Andrea; L., Del Castello; Giardina, irene rosana; Melillo, Stefania; Parisi, Leonardo; O., Pohl; B., Rossaro; E., Shen; E., Silvestri; Viale, Massimiliano. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS. - ISSN 0031-9007. - 113:(2014), pp. 238102-238102. [10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.238102]
File allegati a questo prodotto
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/763702
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 51
  • Scopus 144
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 139
social impact