Fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.

Fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.

Fermat's principle of least time states that light rays passing through different media follow the fastest (and not the most direct) path between two points, leading to refraction at medium borders. Humans intuitively employ this rule, e.g., when a lifeguard has to infer the fastest way to trav...

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Autores principales: Jan Oettler, Volker S Schmid, Niko Zankl, Olivier Rey, Andreas Dress, Jürgen Heinze
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/527f287c18474e86bdc1b826d8717d3b
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:527f287c18474e86bdc1b826d8717d3b2021-11-18T07:52:35ZFermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0059739https://doaj.org/article/527f287c18474e86bdc1b826d8717d3b2013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23527263/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Fermat's principle of least time states that light rays passing through different media follow the fastest (and not the most direct) path between two points, leading to refraction at medium borders. Humans intuitively employ this rule, e.g., when a lifeguard has to infer the fastest way to traverse both beach and water to reach a swimmer in need. Here, we tested whether foraging ants also follow Fermat's principle when forced to travel on two surfaces that differentially affected the ants' walking speed. Workers of the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, established "refracted" pheromone trails to a food source. These trails deviated from the most direct path, but were not different to paths predicted by Fermat's principle. Our results demonstrate a new aspect of decentralized optimization and underline the versatility of the simple yet robust rules governing the self-organization of group-living animals.Jan OettlerVolker S SchmidNiko ZanklOlivier ReyAndreas DressJürgen HeinzePublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 3, p e59739 (2013)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Jan Oettler
Volker S Schmid
Niko Zankl
Olivier Rey
Andreas Dress
Jürgen Heinze
Fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.
description Fermat's principle of least time states that light rays passing through different media follow the fastest (and not the most direct) path between two points, leading to refraction at medium borders. Humans intuitively employ this rule, e.g., when a lifeguard has to infer the fastest way to traverse both beach and water to reach a swimmer in need. Here, we tested whether foraging ants also follow Fermat's principle when forced to travel on two surfaces that differentially affected the ants' walking speed. Workers of the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, established "refracted" pheromone trails to a food source. These trails deviated from the most direct path, but were not different to paths predicted by Fermat's principle. Our results demonstrate a new aspect of decentralized optimization and underline the versatility of the simple yet robust rules governing the self-organization of group-living animals.
format article
author Jan Oettler
Volker S Schmid
Niko Zankl
Olivier Rey
Andreas Dress
Jürgen Heinze
author_facet Jan Oettler
Volker S Schmid
Niko Zankl
Olivier Rey
Andreas Dress
Jürgen Heinze
author_sort Jan Oettler
title Fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.
title_short Fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.
title_full Fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.
title_fullStr Fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.
title_full_unstemmed Fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.
title_sort fermat's principle of least time predicts refraction of ant trails at substrate borders.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate 2013
url https://doaj.org/article/527f287c18474e86bdc1b826d8717d3b
work_keys_str_mv AT janoettler fermatsprincipleofleasttimepredictsrefractionofanttrailsatsubstrateborders
AT volkersschmid fermatsprincipleofleasttimepredictsrefractionofanttrailsatsubstrateborders
AT nikozankl fermatsprincipleofleasttimepredictsrefractionofanttrailsatsubstrateborders
AT olivierrey fermatsprincipleofleasttimepredictsrefractionofanttrailsatsubstrateborders
AT andreasdress fermatsprincipleofleasttimepredictsrefractionofanttrailsatsubstrateborders
AT jurgenheinze fermatsprincipleofleasttimepredictsrefractionofanttrailsatsubstrateborders
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