Irene Giardina - CNR ISC Roma #
Statistical Mechanics for Natural Flocks of birds #
Flocking is a typical example of emergent collective behavior, where 
interactions between individuals produce collective patterns on the large 
scale. We show that a quantitative microscopic theory for directional 
ordering in a flock can be derived directly from field data.  We construct 
the minimally structured (maximum entropy) model consistent with 
experimental correlations in large flocks of starlings. This model shows 
that local, pairwise, topological  (i.e. density invariant) interactions 
between birds are sufficient to correctly predict the propagation of order 
throughout entire flocks of starlings, with no free parameters.