The Effect of Sensory Blind Zones on Milling Behavior in a Dynamic Self-Propelled Particle Model

TL;DR

This study introduces a dynamic self-propelled particle model with sensory blind zones, revealing how limited sensory perception disrupts milling patterns and emphasizing the importance of panoramic sensing for collective movement.

Contribution

It presents a novel SPP model incorporating sensory blind zones and identifies new phase transitions affecting milling behavior.

Findings

Milling patterns degrade with increasing blind zones.

Two distinct transitions in pattern formation are observed.

Near-complete sensory coverage is essential for milling emergence.

Abstract

Emergent pattern formation in self-propelled particle (SPP) systems is extensively studied because it addresses a range of swarming phenomena which occur without leadership. Here we present a dynamic SPP model in which a sensory blind zone is introduced into each particle's zone of interaction. Using numerical simulations we discovered that the degradation of milling patterns with increasing blind zone ranges undergoes two distinct transitions, including a new, spatially nonhomogeneous transition that involves cessation of particles' motion caused by broken symmetries in their interaction fields. Our results also show the necessity of nearly complete panoramic sensory ability for milling behavior to emerge in dynamic SPP models, suggesting a possible relationship between collective behavior and sensory systems of biological organisms.