Simulating active particle Motion

 

When autonomously moving objects start interacting with a sufficient number of other such objects in space, then complex patterns of collective motion can start to appear.  Classic examples include the schooling of fish, the swarming of insects and the flocking of birds. In our group we are interested in how such models can be extended to active objects confined to curved surfaces, to explore how the local topology and curvature influences the resultant pattern formation. Our eventual goal will be to apply such models to examples in biology where actively propelled objects such as cells, are confined to curved surfaces.