Noise-Induced Bistable States and Their Mean Switching Time in Foraging Colonies

2013/06/30 by Tommaso Biancalani, Louise Dyson, Alan J. McKane · 3 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · #Acoustics #Biology #Bistability #Computer science #Ecology #Foraging #Gene Regulatory Network Analysis #Materials science #Neural dynamics and brain function #Noise (video) #Optoelectronics #Physics #Plant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies #Statistical physics #cond-mat.stat-mech #q-bio.PE

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.112.038101

8 pages, 5 figures. See also a "light-hearted" introduction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37Fe4qjeZk

arxiv created 2014/01/03 · openalex publication_date 2014/01/22 · arxiv updated 2015/06/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We investigate a type of bistability occurring in population systems 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.

Citations

• Stochastic models in population biology and their deterministic analogs
• Transitions Induced by the Discreteness of Molecules in a Small Autocatalytic System
• Stochastic Processes in Physics and Chemistry

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• Cell Division Changes Fate Decisions in a Genetic Toggle Switch
• Data-driven model reduction of agent-based systems using the Koopman generator
• Modes of competition and the fitness of evolved populations

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