Vicsek Model:

Pattern Formation and the Effect

of Particle Size

Shaswata Roy
Project Guide: Dr. Neelima M. Gupte

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Department of Physics

May 2019
 Abstract

The vicsek model is one of the most important models in flocking. One of
the variants of the vicsek model involves analysing the collective motion
in a system of active rods. However our understanding of the band-like
pattern formations in the vicsek model is incomplete. Also the effect of
volume exclusion in the vicsek model and it’s consequent effect on the
formation of band-like structures is unexplored. In this work we try to
tackle these questions.
Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Original Vicsek Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Phase Transition in the Vicsek Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Vicsek Model for Rods 4

3 Hydrodynamic Descriptions 7
3.1 Boltzmann Ginzburg Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Fokker Planck Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4 Mixture of Passive and Active Rods 12

5 Effect of Particle Size 14

5.1 Vicsek Model of Spheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.2 Vicsek Model of Rods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

6 Conclusion 19

A Algorithmic Implementation 20

B Jacobi Elliptic Function 21

C Boltzmann Ginzburg 22

Bibliography 23

i
Chapter 1

Introduction

Flocking refers to the emergent behaviour in which a group of particles moving in

seemingly random directions tend to move collectively in a specific direction. Such
behaviour is common in groups of animals (birds, fishes) and more recently has been
studied in the case of group of rod-like structures (e.g.: bacteria). It is the char-
acteristic motion of active particles or self-propelling particles-particles which have
internal energy and is capable of using it propel itself. The vicsek model developed
by Vicsek et. al.(ref.) has been one of the most successful and most studied model
when trying to understand flocking.
We look at the Vicsek model for rods in this thesis and how it compares to the
original Vicsek model. Also we observe pattern formation (band like structures) in
the Vicsek model for rods and try to explain why we see such structures. Passive
rods (devoid of any self propelling force) on the other hand show no such behaviour
and in Chapter (No.) we see why. A number of simulations are also performed to
consider a mixture of active and passive rods to see the effects of having a mixture of
the two types of rods.
However the effect of size of the active particle has not been investigated. It is
known that all these interesting properties of active rods come up due to the effect
of volume exclusion. Hence the effect of volume exculsion and size of the particle is
something that we will look into in chapter (No.).

1.1 Original Vicsek Model

In this model we consider a certain number of point-like particles confined to move
within a box having dimensions L × L[1]. All the particles have constant velocity
amplitude v0 throughout the motion. The direction at time t is indicated by the
angle Θ(t). The particles initially have uniformly distributed positions and angles.

1
At each moment in time the direction of the particle is determined by the direction
of the particles within a specific radius r (called the interaction radius). The particle
tends to align itself to the average direction of motion of it’s neighbours (within
interaction radius r). There is also an additional noise which tends to disrupt the
direction of the particles. The updating rule[2] is given by,

Θ(t + 1) = hΘ(t)ir + ξ (1.1)

x(t + 1) = x(t) + v0 ∆t (1.2)

Where ξ is a random variable uniformly distributed in − η2 , η2 where η is the noise

 
N
strength. Depending on the initial density ρ = L2
and noise strength η
As time passes the particles are seen to form clusters and align themselves in the
same direction. This cluster forming tendency tends to be greater when the strength
of the noise is smaller. This spontaneous alignment of the particles in a specific
direction sees a phase transition as we change the strength of the noise. A similar
phase transition also when we fix the noise strength and change the density ρ.

1.2 Phase Transition in the Vicsek Model

Let us define the order parameter as the average velocity of N particles in the following
way,
 
N
1 X 
va = vi  (1.3)
 
N v0

 
i=0

On performing numerous simulations for a large number of particles for varying

noise strengths we find the occurrence of a phase transition,
From the log-log plot above we see that the near the critical point for sufficiently
large number of particles we see a scaling law of the form,

va = (η − ηc )β η < ηc (1.4)

We find a similar scaling law for the order parameter with respect to the density
around the critical point,

va = (ρ − ρc )δ ρ < ρc (1.5)

2
(a) Order Parameter for varying noise (b) Log-log plot of order parameter against
strengths noise

Figure 1.1: Determining β using N = 1000

(a) Order Parameter for varying densities (b) Log-log plot of order parameter against
density

Figure 1.2: Determining δ using L = 20

3
Chapter 2

Vicsek Model for Rods

To describe the collective motion of rods we consider an interaction potential which

penalizes the overlap of the rods. As shown previously by Onsager (??) this overlap
is proportional to, − cos2 (θj − θi )
Hence we define the potential as,

γ X
Ui (xi , θi ) = − cos(2(θj − θi )) (2.1)
2
|xi −xj |<R

If we consider,

xi = v0 V (φi ) (2.2)
X √
φi = γ sin(2(φj − φi )) + 2Dη(t) (2.3)
|xi −xj |<R

Similar to the original vicsek model we find that the nematic order undergoes a
phase transition with changing noise strength. The nematic order is given as,

ei2φ |
P
|
ψ= (2.4)
N
We come across 4 different phases while increasing the noise strength:

Figure 2.1: Order Parameters against Noise

4
 (I) At high noise strength the system is entirely disordered.

(II) On decreasing the noise a start to see the formation of an ordered band which
increases in size with decreasing noise strength. On decreasing the noise further
the ordered band has increased in size to the point that we are left with a
disordered band.

(III) Soon the band starts to warp and bend in irregular patterns.

(IV) At very low noise we have a homogeneously ordered system.

Figure 2.2: Order Parameters against Noise

5
 Figure 2.3: Phases

The polar order on the other hand is homogeneously zero. We see that for a
specific noise intensity the probability distribution of the orientation is invariant under
θ →θ+π

(a) Probability Order Parameter (b) Probability of τ distribution

6
Chapter 3

Hydrodynamic Descriptions

3.1 Boltzmann Ginzburg Model

To derive the continuum equations for the density,polar orientation and nematic ori-
entation profiles we consider a very dilute system where only binary interactions need
to be taken into accounts. Assuming that the orientations are not correlated among
themselves we can write the Boltzmann equation as,

∂t f (~r, θ, t) + v0~e(θ) · ∇f (~r, θ, t) = Idif f [f ] + Icol [f ] (3.1)

Where,
Z π Z ∞
0 0
Idif f [f ] = −λf (θ) + λ dθ f (θ ) × dηPσ (η)δ2π (θ0 − θ + η) (3.2)
π −∞

Z π Z π Z π
0 0 0
Icol [f ] = −f (θ) dθ K(θ , θ)f (θ ) + dθ1 f (θ1 ) dθ2 K(θ1 , θ2 )f (θ2 )
π
Z π∞ π
(3.3)
dηPσ (η)δ2π (ψ(θ1 , θ2 ) − θ + η)
−∞

This gives us the equations for polar and nematic orientation as,

1 γ
∂t f1 (t) = − (∇ρ + ∇∗ f2 ) + f2∗ ∇f2 − (α − β|f2 |2 )f1 + ζf1∗ f2 (3.4)
2 2

1 ν κ χ
∂t f2 (t) = − ∇f1 + ∇2 f2 − f1 6 ∗ ∇f2 − ∇∗ (f1 f2 ) + (µ − ξ|f2 |2 )f2 + ωf12 + τ |f1 |2 f2
2 4 2 2
(3.5)
Where α, β, ζ, µ, ν, η, κ, ω, τ, ξ, χ and γ are all dependent on noise intensity as given
in Appendix A.

7
 Figure 3.1: Boltzmann Ginzburg Band Formation

In the homogeneous state (all gradient terms are 0) in which µ < 0 is given
by f1 = f2 = 0. On the other hand for µ > 0 we get homogeneous solutions as
p
f1 = 0, f2 = µ/ξ.
For large enough system sizes (Lx > 50) we observe a nematic band whose density
profile changes along the smaller dimension of the system. In the unstable region
of the nematic homogeneous solution we see the formation of a nematic band of
density ρband > ρgas where ρgas is density of the surrounding homogeneously disordered
nematic profile.
To arrive at such equations we make the assumption that the net polar orientation
is homogeneously 0 for all noise intensities (i.e. f1 = 0). From 3.4 we get,

1
ρ − ρ0 = f2 + γf22 (3.6)
2
Plugging this into the above equation,

ν  γ 
∂xx f2 = −µ0 f2 (ρ0 − ρt + f2 ) + ξ − µ f22 (3.7)
4 2
Solving these equations subject to the boundary conditions,

8
 3(ρ − ρt )
f2 (y) = p (3.8)
1 + a cosh (2y µ0 (ρt − ρ0 )/ν)

3.2 Fokker Planck Equations

An alternate approach to deriving these continuum field equations was given by Grob-
mann et.al..The Fokker-Planck equations for the density is given by,
Z 2π
∂t ρ(~r, φ, t) = −∂φ d φ0 sin[2(φ0 −φ)]p(~r, φ, t)p(~r, φ0 , t)]−v0 ∂φ p(~r, φ, t)+Dφ ∂φ2 p(~r, φ, t)
0
(3.9)
R 2π
einφ p(~r, φ, t). Substituting p(~r, φ, t) = fn e−inφ we get,
P
Consider, fn = 0 n

v0 ˜
∂t f0 = − [∇f1 + ∇f1∗ ] (3.10)
2

v0 ˜
∂t f1 = 0 = −
[∇f2 + ∇f0 ] (3.11)
2
Rewriting the moments as, f2 = AQ, f0 = Aρ, τ = A1 , l = x √ v0 and A = 8Dρ
2Dφ A
we can re-scale the equations as,

˜ 2 Q) + ∆ρ)
∂t ρ = D(Re(∇ (3.12)

 
1 2 v0 v0 h ˜
∂t Q = ρQ − |Q| Q − [∇ − ∇Q + ∇ρ] − 4Dφ Q
8Dφ 2 2Dφ
(3.13)
v02
 
2 2 1 2
= (∇ ρ + ∆ Q) + Q ρ − − |Q|
4Dφ 2
Assume nematic variation only along x-direction,

B(x, t) = −Q(x, t) , B(x, t) ≥ 0 (3.14)

At steady state ∂t ρB = 0, ∂t B = 0

˜ 2 Q)
∆ρ = −Re(∇ (3.15)

→ ∂x2 ρ = ∂x2 B (3.16)

→ ρ − B = ρ¯0 − M [B] (3.17)

9
 Where ρ0 and M [B] are the average density and nematic orientation in the system.
 
1 2
∂xx B = B ρ − − |B| (3.18)
2
p
For homogeneous solution ∂xx Q = 0. We have Q = ρ − 1/2 which is similar to
computation results.
The non-homogeneous steady state solution gives us the band structure. However
a number of different band structures are possible depending on the periodicity of
the band profile. The value of m is determined by the fact that the system size must
be an integer multiple of lB [m], the distance between two consecutive peaks of the
elliptic function.
As pointed out in ref we can have only one peak in the band profile (i.e.lB [m] =
Lx ). This is because equation of the development of the nematic profile is similar to
Schogl model in which the bands are attractive.
" r  #
1 2m x
B(x; m) = 1+ cd √ ,m (3.19)
3 m+1 3 m+1
Where cd(x, m) is a Jacobi Elliptic function. We see that the solution B(x, m)
has band like structures for specific values of m and periodic boundaries.

Figure 3.2: Jacobi Elliptic Function with m = 0.999

10
 Passive Rods:
Passive rods moves as an isotropic random walk spatially,

~r˙ =
p
2Dr ηr (t) (3.20)

X p
φ̇ = γ sin(2(φj − φi )) + 2Dφ ηφ (t) (3.21)
|xi −xj |<R

Following a similar procedure as above we find the continuum equations as,

1
f0 f2 + Dr ∇2 f2 + |f2 |2 f2 − 4Dφ f2 = 0 (3.22)
8Dφ

Figure 3.3: Jacobi Elliptic Function for the Passive Rods with m = 0.999

We see that within the domain of the periodic boundary the nematic order is 0.
This confirms the fact that the nematic order is non zero.

11
Chapter 4

Mixture of Passive and Active

Rods

We introduce a small number of passive rods in a system of active rods.

There are two important results that were observed when considering such a mix-
ture:

1. At large system sizes,the effect of passive rods do not affect the individual
pattern formation in the particles. This implies that the band structure exists
even in the presence of passive rods while the passive rods are homogeneously
distributed.

(a) Passive Rods(10%) (b) Passive Rods (20%)

2. The passive rods tend to assume a certain degree of nematic orientation itself
being influenced by the active rods.

3. The active rods undergo a phase transition at a critical point at a lower noise
density in the presence of passive rods

12
 (c) Mixture Phase Transition (d) Passive particles phase transition

4. At small system size,the presence of passive rods disrupt the formation of band-
like structures in the system of active rods.

Figure 4.1: Smaller System Mixture

13
Chapter 5

Effect of Particle Size

5.1 Vicsek Model of Spheres

Till now we have considered the Vicsek model only for point like particles. For a more
practical effect we have to consider the effect of the size of particle. For the original
vicsek model we consider spherical particles. It makes sense to do so since the shape
of the agents considered can be greatly varied and an analysis of a sphere can help
us gain certain number of insights.
We consider the particles to have radius r and every time we update the position
of a particle we make sure that it does not collide with the positions of the particles
during the present updating step. The updating rule can be given as,

(
|xi (t + ∆t) − xj (t + ∆t)| < 2r, for j < i
xi (t + ∆t) = xi (t) if (5.1)
|xi (t + ∆t) − xj (t)| < 2r, for j > i

Effect on ψ:

First we observe the effect of radius on the order parameter. Increasing the radius
of the particles seems to increase the net polar order as well while simultaneously
decreasing the net polar order of the system.

14
 Figure 5.1: Changes in ψ for varying radius
N = 40 ρ = 4

Effect on χ:

In the case if such an updating rule we see an interesting result for the susceptibility.
We find that the peak of χ increases with increasing radius. At around r = 0.25
this increase is remarkably larger than any other value of radius. In other words the
change in ηc is large around rc = 0.25

(a) Susceptibility for varying radius (b) Susceptibility zoomed in

Figure 5.2: Effect of radius on the susceptibility

15
 Figure 5.3: Changes in ηc for varying radius

The fit on the second plot was made to a hyperbolic tangent curve. However there
is no specific reason for doing except that it highlights the rapid change at rc = 0.25.

5.2 Vicsek Model of Rods

To include the volume effects we refer ref. However in the derivation of the results
we look at rods having very high aspect ratios.

v02 v02
 
2 1 2 8Dφ η0 f0 f2
∂t f2 = (∇ f0 +∆f2 )+ ∆f2 +f2 f0 − 4Dφ − |f2 | + (5.2)
4Dφ 36Dφ 8Dφ 3
   
9 2 11 8Dφ η0 1 2
∂t Q = ∇ ρ + ∆Q + Q ρ + 1 − − |Q| (5.3)
2 2 3 2
First we look at the homogeneous solution at steady state,
s  
8Dφ η0 1
∂xx Q = 0 → |Q| = ρ +1 − (5.4)
3 2
This implies that in the presence of volume exclusion the nematic orientation
tends to be stronger. Also the critical density ρc at which the phase transition occurs
is lower.

 " r    #
1 8Dφ η0 2m x 8Dφ 1
B(x; m) = + 1+ cd √ + ,m (5.5)
3 9 m+1 m+1 9 3

16
 Where η0 is the volume of the rods. We see from the plots that this causes the
bands to become narrower and increase in height. In other words the bands get denser
and decrease in width with increasing volume of the rods.

Figure 5.4: Jacobi Elliptic Function with m = 0.999, η = 0

Figure 5.5: Jacobi Elliptic Function with m = 0.999, η = 0.2

Also simulations were performed according to ref − P eruani to find the effect of
the nematic order with variation in the aspect ratio.

17
 Figure 5.6: Effect of Aspect Ratio

In the above figure r refers to the inverse of the aspect ratio. We see that for low
aspect ratios the nematic order is greatly reduced. Furthermore the phase transition
takes place at a lower critical noise ηc . This verifies the results in the paper in which
the author mentioned that the nematic order was non existent at lower aspect ratios
(for a specific value of noise intensity).

18
Chapter 6

Conclusion

Conclusion

19
Appendix A

Algorithmic Implementation

To be completed

20
Appendix B

Jacobi Elliptic Function

To be completed

21
Appendix C

Boltzmann Ginzburg

22
Bibliography

[1] Davide Michieletto. Collective motion in confining and non-differentiable geome-

tries. 2010-2011.

[2] Eshel Ben-Jacob Inon Cohen Tamas Vicsek, Andras Czirok and Ofer Shochet.
Novel type of phase transition in a system of self-driven particles. Physical Review
Letter, 75(6):1226–1229, 1995.

23