Swarms MONT 104Q – Mathematical Journeys, November 2015

Characteristics of natural swarms Collections of animals of similar sizes, but highly structured Usually all same species (or occasionally some small number of different species) Can seem to move as a single group, with coordinated changes of orientation and speed of motion, but Individuals are not consciously planning or coordinating the movements

“Emergent” behavior Swarms often seem to exhibit “emergent” group intelligence – ability to perform complex tasks, carry out journeys, etc. far exceeding the capabilities of any individual For instance, when a new queen emerges, a bee swarm can achieve relocation of the whole colony to a new, favorable site even though no single bee “knows” what is going on Similarly, foraging columns of ants can discover shortest paths from their nests to food sources

Stimuli and information sharing Interesting question: How do swarms work? The answer seems to be combinations of: Stimuli – repulsion from other individuals getting too close, attraction to others when distance becomes too large (gaps form), perception of orientation of nearby individuals Information sharing between individuals – bee “dances,” chemical signals (pheromones), etc. Varying degrees of randomness, chance

Scientific study of swarms Study mechanisms of swarm behavior, develop computer/mathematical models Applications to understanding various biological systems like the ones we saw in the videos Also, a really neat recent idea – learn something from social insects like bees, ants! “Swarm optimization” algorithms – apply approach emulating swarms to computationally hard problems like Traveling Salesman

Troika Ranch SWARM Our experience tonight will be based on some of these ideas (but in form of an interactive experimental theater presentation – not science, but there's a big tech component!) Will raise some interesting questions such as: To what extent can and do human beings form swarms? Can our societies work the way insect societies do? Maybe sometimes? What is the boundary between individual behavior and group behavior?