Paper detail

Speed inhomogeneity accelerates the information transfer in polar flock

A collection of self-propelled particles (SPPs) shows coherent motion and exhibits a true long range ordered (LRO) state in two dimensions. Various studies show that the presence of spatial inhomogeneities can destroy the usual long-range ordering in the system. However, the effects of inhomogeneity due to the intrinsic properties of the particles are barely addressed. In this paper we consider a collection of polar SPPs moving with inhomogeneous speed (IS) on a two dimensional substrate, which can arise due to varying physical strength of the individual particle. To our surprise, the IS not only preserves the usual long-range ordering present in the homogeneous speed models but also induces faster ordering in the system. Furthermore, The response of the flock to an external perturbation is also faster, compared to Vicsek like model systems, due to the frequent update of neighbors of each SPP in the presence of the IS. Therefore, our study shows that the IS can help in faster information transfer in the moving flock.