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Nick Gravish1, Gregory Gold, Andrew Zangwill

  • 1School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA. nick.gravish@gmail.com.

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Collective movement in confined spaces, like fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), shows traffic jams due to physical and social interactions. These dynamics mimic soft-matter physics, revealing how social behavior impacts group mobility.

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Area of Science:

  • Collective behavior
  • Soft-matter physics
  • Insect social dynamics

Background:

  • Animal collective movement in confined spaces is common.
  • High-density mobility resembles inert soft materials.
  • Social interactions in living systems are crucial but understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate fire ant traffic flow in varying tunnel sizes.
  • Understand the role of physical obstruction and social interactions.
  • Compare collective living systems to inert soft matter.

Main Methods:

  • Observed bi-directional fire ant traffic in tunnels.
  • Analyzed traffic heterogeneity and density correlations.
  • Used cellular automata simulations to model social interactions (dwell time).

Main Results:

  • Traffic flow exhibits fast and slow regions due to physical and social interactions.
  • Relaxation dynamics scale linearly with fluctuation size and depend on tunnel diameter.
  • Social interactions shift dynamics from fragile to strong glass-like transitions with increased affinity.

Conclusions:

  • Social interactions significantly influence collective mobility in dense, confined systems.
  • Soft-matter physics concepts provide insights into living systems' dynamics.
  • Further research into densely confined social systems is warranted.