In its original form, Gibbs-Boltzmann statistical mechanics cannot describe “active matter,” such as living, driven, or self-propelled systems. Contemporary models of swarming and flocking behaviors, ...

Systems of motile interacting units (active matter) exhibit fascinating emergent phenomena such as self-organization and directed motion at large scales. Familiar examples are flocks of birds, schools ...

Physicists are using small wheeled robots to better understand these indirect mechanical interactions, how they play a role in active matter, and how we can control them. When self-propelling objects ...