Noise-Induced Bistable States and Their Mean Switching Time in Foraging Colonies
Populations and Evolution
2015-06-16 v3 Statistical Mechanics
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.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1306.4167,
title = {Noise-Induced Bistable States and Their Mean Switching Time in Foraging Colonies},
author = {Tommaso Biancalani and Louise Dyson and Alan J. McKane},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1306.4167},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
8 pages, 5 figures. See also a "light-hearted" introduction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37Fe4qjeZk