Noise-Induced Bistable States and Their Mean Switching Time in Foraging Colonies

TL;DR

This paper explores how noise influences bistability in ant foraging behavior, showing that noise can create and switch between stable states, and provides a way to estimate the population size needed for bistability to persist.

Contribution

It introduces a model where noise constructs bistable states in foraging colonies and calculates the mean switching time, offering a method to estimate critical population sizes.

Findings

Noise can induce and sustain bistable states in foraging systems.

Mean switching times between states are quantitatively estimated.

A procedure to determine the population size threshold for bistability.

Abstract

We investigate a type of bistability where noise not only causes transitions between stable states, but also constructs the states themselves. We focus on the experimentally well-studied system of ants choosing between two food sources to illustrate the essential points, but the ideas are more general. The mean time for switching between the two bistable states of the system is calculated. This suggests a procedure for estimating, in a real system, the critical population size above which bistability ceases to occur.