Interaction Mode
Order Parameters
Alignment φ—
Mean velocity—
ModeMetric
N neighbors avg—
Clusters—
Metric flocking: interact with all birds within radius r. Collective order fails abruptly at a density-dependent critical noise.
Topological flocking (Ballerini 2008): interact with fixed k nearest neighbors regardless of distance. More robust to perturbations and dilution — matches starling murmurations.
Topological flocking (Ballerini 2008): interact with fixed k nearest neighbors regardless of distance. More robust to perturbations and dilution — matches starling murmurations.