Social Biological Organisms: Aggregation Patterns and Dynamics

Chad Topaz Assistant Professor
and
Assistant Director of Center of Excellence in Teaching
Center of Excellence in Teaching
Rossier School of Education
USC Biological aggregations such as insect swarms, bird flocks, and fish schools are arguably some of the most common and least understood patterns in nature. These groups are thought to arise chiefly from "social forces" acting on individual organisms, including attraction (for protection and mate choice) and dispersion (for collision avoidance). In this talk, I will discuss recent work on continuum (fluid-like) and agent-based models for aggregations. The models describe phenomena such as vortex swarming, population clumping, and group migration. The goal is to determine the relationship between individuals' microscopic rules for movement and the macroscopic properties of the group (such as size, density, and velocity).

Location: Stauffer Science Lecture Hall, Room 100 (SLH 100)

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: April Mundy