Collective behavior as a research area investigates how large ensembles of interacting agents—such as cells, animals, humans, or artificial units—generate emergent spatiotemporal patterns and coordinated dynamics that cannot be trivially inferred from individual-level rules. It integrates concepts and methods from statistical physics, nonlinear dynamics, complex systems theory, network science, and computational modeling to characterize phenomena such as synchronization, swarming, flocking, consensus formation, and phase transitions in social or biological systems. Research focuses on identifying local interaction rules, quantifying macroscopic order parameters, understanding robustness and criticality, and developing predictive, often multi-scale, models of group-level organization and decision-making.
In bird colonies, schools of fish and cycling pelotons, significant interactions occur between individuals through the surrounding fluid. These interactions are well understood in fluids such as air and water, but what happens ...
Researchers at TU Delft have discovered that E. coli bacteria can synchronize their movements, creating order in seemingly random biological systems. By trapping individual bacteria in micro-engineered circular cavities and ...
Bio & Medicine
Dec 3, 2024
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New research from the University of Kent has demonstrated that quantum information could eventually be used to coordinate the actions of devices that can move, such as drones or autonomous vehicles. This could lead to more ...
Quantum Physics
Nov 19, 2024
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X-ray free-electron lasers produce pulses of light that are exceptionally bright, making them powerful tools for studying ultrafast chemical reactions, biological processes, or probing the structure of materials at atomic ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 18, 2024
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Radio frequency (RF) and microwave power measurements are widely used to support applications across space, defense, and communication. These precise measurements enable engineers to accurately characterize waveforms, components, ...
Quantum Physics
Nov 4, 2024
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Modern astronomy has clung to the belief that the relativistic outflows or jets, responsible for the existence of electromagnetic radiation of particularly high energies, are located in the nuclei of active galaxies distant ...
Astronomy
Oct 17, 2024
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While various studies have hinted at the existence of dark matter, its nature, composition and underlying physics remain poorly understood.
Observations of preschool children in classrooms and playgrounds have uncovered new social phases in human movement. Employing ultra-wideband radio frequency identification (UWB-RFID) technology allows for the precise tracking ...
General Physics
Oct 7, 2024
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During eutectic solidification, a mixture of two or more solids self-assemble, forming composite microstructures ranging from ordered layers to intricate maze-like patterns that underlie properties like tensile strength or ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 9, 2024
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A crowd or a flock of birds have different characteristics from those of atoms in a material, but when it comes to collective movement, the differences matter less than we might think. We can try to predict the behavior of ...
General Physics
Aug 8, 2024
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