Cell Division Behaviour in a Heterogeneous Swarm Environment

摘要

We present a system of virtual particles that interact using simple kinetic rules.It is known that heterogeneous mixtures of particles are producing particularly interesting behaviours.Here we present a two-species swarm in which a behaviour emerges that resembles cell division.We show that the dividing behaviour exists across a narrow but finite band of parameters and for a wide range of population sizes.In a two dimensional environment the swarm's characteristics and dynamism manifests differently from those observable in a three dimensional environment.In further experiments we show that repeated divisions can occur if the system is extended by a biased equilibrium process to control the split of populations.We propose this repeated division behaviour provides a simple model for cell division mechanisms, which relates to discussions of the origin of life and is of interest for the formation of morphological structure and to swarm robotics.