Towards a Theory of Modular-Hierarchical Structures in Living Systems

Intellectual Merit: Theory (Huepe): developed detailed and idealized models to capture specific and universal aspects of swarm dynamics based on experimental results and theoretical analysis; introduced an adaptive-network description of collective motion; solved the inverse problem for small groups of fish, deducing the interactions between individuals from experimental data thus unveiling non-additive effects;; extended standard swarming models to include variable speeds, visual interactions, etc.; characterized transition dynamics between states of collective motion; developed new approaches for understanding collective decision making in animal groups; discovered a novel elasticity-based self-organization mechanism for active systems that leads to collective motion even in the absence of explicit alignment. Experiments (Couzin): implemented fully controlled fish swarming experiments, tracking all individuals.