English

Modeling Flocks and Prices: Jumping Particles with an Attractive Interaction

Probability 2015-01-08 v2

Abstract

We introduce and investigate a new model of a finite number of particles jumping forward on the real line. The jump lengths are independent of everything, but the jump rate of each particle depends on the relative position of the particle compared to the center of mass of the system. The rates are higher for those left behind, and lower for those ahead of the center of mass, providing an attractive interaction keeping the particles together. We prove that in the fluid limit, as the number of particles goes to infinity, the evolution of the system is described by a mean field equation that exhibits traveling wave solutions. A connection to extreme value statistics is also provided.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1107.3289,
  title  = {Modeling Flocks and Prices: Jumping Particles with an Attractive Interaction},
  author = {Marton Balazs and Miklos Z. Racz and Balint Toth},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1107.3289},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

35 pages, 9 figures. A shortened version appears as arXiv:1108.2436

R2 v1 2026-06-21T18:37:56.818Z