Collective motion of self-propelled particles with complex noise environments

Abstract

Collective motion of self-propelled particles with complex noise environments is investigated via simulations based on the Vicsek model. In our model, self-propelled particles move in a square divided into one part with noise and the other without noise. Via simulations, it is found that the proportion of noise region p has an important impact on the collective motion of the system. Specifically, there is a transition at the critical pc. When p<pc, all particles of the system can reach the global synchronization; on the contrary, when p>pc, the order parameter of synchronization rapidly decreases. More interestingly, the value of pc decreases as the noise amplitude η increases. Simultaneously, when p<pc, the proportion of the number of particles in the noise region λ approximates zero; conversely, when p>pc, the value of λ increases dramatically. Furthermore, pc gradually increases as the number of particles increases. Our results provide new sights into the study of collective motion in nature.