Topological models for emergent dynamics with short-range interactions
Roman Shvydkoy, Eitan Tadmor · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2018
We introduce a new class of models for emergent dynamics. It is based on a new communication protocol which incorporates two main features: short-range kernels which restrict the communication to local geometric balls, and anisotropic communication kernels, adapted to the local density in these balls, which form ${topological neighborhoods}$. We prove flocking behavior --- the emergence of global alignment for regular, non-vacuous solutions of such models. The (global) regularity and hence unconditional flocking of the one-dimensional model is proved via an application of a De Giorgi-type method. To handle the singular kernels used for geometric and topological communication, we develop a new analysis for ${local}$ fractional elliptic operators, interesting for its own sake, encountered in the construction of our class of models.