Emergence and co-existence of periodic and unstructured motion in future-avoiding random walks

TL;DR

This paper introduces mutual future avoiding random walks (MFARWs) on graphs, revealing spontaneous emergence of periodic behavior and coexistence with unstructured motion, with implications for shared mobility systems.

Contribution

It presents the first example of Chimera-like behavior in non-oscillatory network paths and analytically predicts the transition to structured motion in MFARWs.

Findings

Periodic behavior emerges spontaneously in MFARWs.

Periodic and unstructured behaviors coexist in the system.

The phase transition is driven by self-amplifying coupling mechanisms.

Abstract

Self-avoiding random walks on graphs can be seen as walkers interacting with their own past history. This letter considers a complementary class of dynamics: Mutual future avoiding random walks (MFARWs), where stochastically driven walkers are avoiding each others planned future trajectories. Such systems arise naturally in conceptual models of shared mobility. We show that periodic behavior emerges spontaneously in such MFARWs, and that periodic and unstructured behavior coexist, providing a first example of Chimera style behavior of non-oscillatory paths on networks. Further, we analytically describe and predict the onset of structure. We find that the phase transition from unstructured to periodic behavior is driven by a novel mechanism of self-amplifying coupling to the periodic components of the stochastic drivers of the system. In the context of shared mobility applications, these Chimera states imply a regime of naturally stable co-existence between flexible and line-based public transport.