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A primer of swarm equilibria
We study equilibrium configurations of swarming biological organisms subject
to exogenous and pairwise endogenous forces. Beginning with a discrete
dynamical model, we derive a variational description of the corresponding
continuum population density. Equilibrium solutions are extrema of an energy
functional, and satisfy a Fredholm integral equation. We find conditions for
the extrema to be local minimizers, global minimizers, and minimizers with
respect to infinitesimal Lagrangian displacements of mass. In one spatial
dimension, for a variety of exogenous forces, endogenous forces, and domain
configurations, we find exact analytical expressions for the equilibria. These
agree closely with numerical simulations of the underlying discrete model.The
exact solutions provide a sampling of the wide variety of equilibrium
configurations possible within our general swarm modeling framework. The
equilibria typically are compactly supported and may contain
-concentrations or jump discontinuities at the edge of the support. We
apply our methods to a model of locust swarms, which are observed in nature to
consist of a concentrated population on the ground separated from an airborne
group. Our model can reproduce this configuration; quasi-two-dimensionality of
the model plays a critical role.Comment: 38 pages, submitted to SIAM J. Appl. Dyn. Sy
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