A nonlocal continuum model for biological aggregation.

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Lewis, M. A.
  • Topaz, C. M.
  • Bertozzi, A. L.

• We construct a continuum model for biological aggregations in which individuals experience long-range social attraction and short range dispersal. For the case of one spatial dimension, we study the steady states analytically and numerically. There exist strongly nonlinear states with compact support and steep edges that correspond to localized biological aggregations, or clumps. These steady state clumps are approached through a dynamic coarsening process. In the limit of large population size, the clumps approach a constant density swarm with abrupt edges. We use energy arguments to understand the nonlinear selection of clump solutions, and to predict the internal density in the large population limit. The energy result holds in higher dimensions as well, and is demonstrated via numerical simulations in two dimensions.

• Date created

  2006

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Patterns
  • Swarm
  • Integrodifferential equation
  • Aggregation

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3TJ8V

• License

  © 2006 Springer. This version of this article is open access and can be downloaded and shared. The original author(s) and source must be cited.