Centers and Institutes
Published August 27, 2026 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Spin Waves without Spin Waves: A Case for Soliton Propagation in Starling Flocks

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Sapienza University of Rome
  • 2. ROR icon Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  • 3. ROR icon Universidad Nacional de La Plata
  • 4. ROR icon Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri
  • 5. ROR icon University of Padua
  • 6. ROR icon University of Chicago

Description

Collective turns in starling flocks propagate linearly with negligible attenuation, indicating the existence of an underdamped sector in the dispersion relation. According to linear response theory, beside granting linear propagation of the phase perturbations, the real part of the frequency should also yield a spin-wave form of the unperturbed correlation function. However, new high-resolution experiments on real flocks show that underdamped traveling waves coexist with an overdamped Lorentzian correlation. Theory and experiments are reconciled once we add to the dynamics a Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou term.

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UChicago Information

Division(s)
Institutes & Centers
Center(s) or Institute(s)
James Franck Institute