Birds on a Wire
Statistical Mechanics
2025-01-14 v2 Probability
Physics and Society
Abstract
We investigate the occupancy statistics of birds on a wire and on higher-dimensional substrates. In one dimension, birds land one by one on a wire and rest where they land. Whenever a newly arriving bird lands within a fixed distance of already resting birds, these resting birds immediately fly away. We determine the steady-state occupancy of the wire, the distribution of gaps between neighboring birds, and other basic statistical features of this process. We discuss conjectures for corresponding observables in higher dimensions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2205.00995,
title = {Birds on a Wire},
author = {P. L. Krapivsky and S. Redner},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.00995},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
4 pages, 3 figures in revtex4 format. Also includes a 5-page supplemental material section. V2: Now 18 pages in IOP format, including 2 appendices