Complexity and Symmetry in the Science of Living Systems: Active Particle Methods

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Mathematics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 12621

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Distinguished Professor at the University of Granada, Granada, Spain
2. Professor Emeritus at the Polytechnic University of Torino, Torino, Italy
Interests: kinetic theory; cancer modelling; social systems; crowd dynamics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims at presenting scientific articles devoted to modeling, qualitative analysis, and simulations of large systems of interacting living entities by active particles methods.

The key concept pushed forward in the issue is a multiscale vision and interpretation by mathematical models of living systems from the microscale to collective behaviors, and organized networks.

The overall content is multidisciplinary, as it aims at focusing on behavioral economy, biology, animal swarms as well as crowd dynamics, where human behaviors and heterogeneity have a significant influence on collective dynamics.

New concepts of symmetry and asymmetry are planned to be presented, looking ahead to a possible future of the science of living systems by advanced tools of mathematics, physics, and computer science.

Prof. Dr. Nicola Bellomo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Symmetry is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1281 KiB  
Article
A Kinetic Theory Model of the Dynamics of Liquidity Profiles on Interbank Networks
by Marina Dolfin, Leone Leonida and Eleonora Muzzupappa
Symmetry 2021, 13(2), 363; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13020363 - 23 Feb 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2038
Abstract
This paper adopts the Kinetic Theory for Active Particles (KTAP) approach to model the dynamics of liquidity profiles on a complex adaptive network system that mimic a stylized financial market. Individual incentives of investors to form or delete a link is driven, in [...] Read more.
This paper adopts the Kinetic Theory for Active Particles (KTAP) approach to model the dynamics of liquidity profiles on a complex adaptive network system that mimic a stylized financial market. Individual incentives of investors to form or delete a link is driven, in our modelling framework, by stochastic game-type interactions modelling the phenomenology related to policy rules implemented under Basel III, and it is exogeneously and dynamically influenced by a measure of overnight interest rate. The strategic network formation dynamics that emerges from the introduced transition probabilities modelling individual incentives of investors to form or delete links, provides a wide range of measures using which networks might be considered “best” from the point of view of the overall welfare of the system. We use the time evolution of the aggregate degree of connectivity to measure the time evolving network efficiency in two different scenarios, suggesting a first analysis of the stability of the arising and evolving network structures. Full article
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16 pages, 1380 KiB  
Article
Cherry Picking: Consumer Choices in Swarm Dynamics, Considering Price and Quality of Goods
by Damian Knopoff, Valeria Secchini and Pietro Terna
Symmetry 2020, 12(11), 1912; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12111912 - 20 Nov 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2423
Abstract
This paper proposes a further development of the mathematical theory of swarms to behavioral dynamics of social and economic systems, with an application to the modeling of price series in a market. The complexity features of the system are properly described by modeling [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a further development of the mathematical theory of swarms to behavioral dynamics of social and economic systems, with an application to the modeling of price series in a market. The complexity features of the system are properly described by modeling the asymmetric interactions between buyers and sellers, specifically considering the so-called cherry picking phenomenon, by which not only prices but also qualities are considered when buying a good. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to depict the predictive ability of the model and to show interesting emerging behaviors, as the coordination of buyers and their division in endogenous clusters. Full article
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22 pages, 10188 KiB  
Article
A Flux-Limited Model for Glioma Patterning with Hypoxia-Induced Angiogenesis
by Pawan Kumar and Christina Surulescu
Symmetry 2020, 12(11), 1870; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12111870 - 13 Nov 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2193
Abstract
We propose a model for glioma patterns in a microlocal tumor environment under the influence of acidity, angiogenesis, and tissue anisotropy. The bottom-up model deduction eventually leads to a system of reaction–diffusion–taxis equations for glioma and endothelial cell population densities, of which the [...] Read more.
We propose a model for glioma patterns in a microlocal tumor environment under the influence of acidity, angiogenesis, and tissue anisotropy. The bottom-up model deduction eventually leads to a system of reaction–diffusion–taxis equations for glioma and endothelial cell population densities, of which the former infers flux limitation both in the self-diffusion and taxis terms. The model extends a recently introduced (Kumar, Li and Surulescu, 2020) description of glioma pseudopalisade formation with the aim of studying the effect of hypoxia-induced tumor vascularization on the establishment and maintenance of these histological patterns which are typical for high-grade brain cancer. Numerical simulations of the population level dynamics are performed to investigate several model scenarios containing this and further effects. Full article
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20 pages, 465 KiB  
Article
Economic Segregation Under the Action of Trading Uncertainties
by Elena Ballante, Chiara Bardelli, Mattia Zanella, Silvia Figini and Giuseppe Toscani
Symmetry 2020, 12(9), 1390; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12091390 - 20 Aug 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1912
Abstract
We study the distribution of wealth in a market economy in which the trading propensity of the agents is uncertain. Our approach is based on kinetic models for collective phenomena, which, at variance with the classical kinetic theory of rarefied gases, has to [...] Read more.
We study the distribution of wealth in a market economy in which the trading propensity of the agents is uncertain. Our approach is based on kinetic models for collective phenomena, which, at variance with the classical kinetic theory of rarefied gases, has to face the lack of fundamental principles, which are replaced by empirical social forces of which we have at most statistical information. The proposed kinetic description allows recovering emergent wealth distribution profiles, which are described by the steady states of a Fokker–Planck-type equation with uncertain parameters. A statistical study of the stationary profiles of the Fokker–Planck equation then shows that the wealth distribution can develop a multimodal shape in the presence of observable highly stressful economic situations. Full article
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53 pages, 7069 KiB  
Article
A Stochastic Modelling Framework for Single Cell Migration: Coupling Contractility and Focal Adhesions
by Aydar Uatay
Symmetry 2020, 12(8), 1348; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12081348 - 12 Aug 2020
Viewed by 3275
Abstract
The interaction of the actin cytoskeleton with cell–substrate adhesions is necessary for cell migration. While the trajectories of motile cells have a stochastic character, investigations of cell motility mechanisms rarely elaborate on the origins of the observed randomness. Here, guided by a few [...] Read more.
The interaction of the actin cytoskeleton with cell–substrate adhesions is necessary for cell migration. While the trajectories of motile cells have a stochastic character, investigations of cell motility mechanisms rarely elaborate on the origins of the observed randomness. Here, guided by a few fundamental attributes of cell motility, I construct a minimal stochastic cell migration model from ground-up. The resulting model couples a deterministic actomyosin contractility mechanism with stochastic cell–substrate adhesion kinetics, and yields a well-defined piecewise deterministic process. Numerical simulations reproduce several experimentally observed results, including anomalous diffusion, tactic migration and contact guidance. This work provides a basis for the development of cell–cell collision and population migration models. Full article
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