Statistical approach to self-organization: generic alignment conjecture for systems of Cucker-Smale type

Abstract: The generic alignment conjecture states that for almost every initial data on the torus solutions to the Cucker-Smale system under a strictly local communication rule align to the common mean velocity. In this note we present a partial resolution of this conjecture using a statistical mechanics approach. First, the conjecture holds in full for the sticky particle model representing, formally, infinitely strong local communication. In the classical case the conjecture is proved when $N$, the number of agents, is equal to $2$. It follows from a more general result stating that for a system of any size for almost every data at least two agents align. The analysis is extended to the open space $\R^n$ in the presence of confinement and potential interaction forces. In particular, it is shown that almost every non-oscillatory pair of solutions aligns and aggregates in the potential well.