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Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Author Spotlight: Collective Behavioral Analysis of the Nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: August 25, 2023
Local control for the collective dynamics of self-propelled particles
Everton S Medeiros1, Ulrike Feudel1
1Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Utilizing a paradigmatic model for the motion of interacting self-propelled particles, we demonstrate that local accelerations at the level of individual particles can drive transitions between different collective dynamics, leading to a control process. We find that the ability to trigger such transitions is hierarchically distributed among the particles and can form distinctive spatial patterns within the collective. Chaotic dynamics occur during the transitions, which can be attributed to fractal basin boundaries mediating the control process. The particle hierarchies described in this paper offer decentralized capabilities for controlling artificial swarms.
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