Journal
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
Volume 262, Issue 1, Pages 186-196Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2009.09.007
Keywords
Group decision making; Honeybees; Condorcet's jury theorem; Agent-based model; Statistical physics; Stochastic processes
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Funding
- RCUK Fellowship [EP/E500048/1]
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In a recent paper List, Elsholtz and Seeley (List et al., 2009) have devised an agent-based model of the nest-choice dynamics in swarms of honeybees, and have concluded that both interdependence and independence are needed for the bees to reach a consensus on the best nest site. We here present a simplified version of the model which can be treated analytically with the tools of statistical physics and which largely has the same features as the original dynamics. Based on our analytical approaches it is possible to characterize the co-ordination outcome exactly on the deterministic level, and to a good approximation if stochastic effects are taken into account, reducing the need for computer simulations on the agent-based level. In the second part of the paper we present a spatial extension, and show that transient non-trivial patterns emerge, before consensus is reached. Approaches in terms of Langevin equations for continuous field variables are discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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