Files
Document type
ArticleVersion
Published versionPublication date
Publication license
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/219199
Social Interactions Lead to Motility-Induced Phase Separation in Fire Ants
Journal Title
Director/Tutor
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Related resource
Abstract
Collections of fire ants are a form of active matter, as the ants use their internal metabolism to self-propel. In the absence of aligning interactions, theory and simulations predict that active matter with spatially dependent motility can undergo motility-induced phase separation. However, so far in experiments, the motility effects that drive this process have come from either crowding or an external parameter. Though fire ants are social insects that communicate and cooperate in nontrivial ways, we show that the effect of their interactions can also be understood within the framework of motility-induced phase separation. In this context, the slowing down of ants when they approach each other results in an effective attraction that can lead to space-filling clusters and an eventual formation of dynamical heterogeneities. These results illustrate that motility-induced phase separation can provide a unifying framework to rationalize the behavior of a wide variety of active matter systems.
Subject
Subject (English)
Citation
Citation
ANDERSON, C. J. and FERNÁNDEZ-NIEVES, Alberto. Social Interactions Lead to Motility-Induced Phase Separation in Fire Ants. Nature Communications. 2022. Vol. 13. ISSN 2041-1723. [consulted: 7 of June of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/219199