Information bound on navigation speed in smart active matter

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Olsen, Kristian Stølevik, Tarama, Mitsusuke, Löwen, Hartmut
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Olsen, Kristian Stølevik
Tarama, Mitsusuke
Löwen, Hartmut
author_facet Olsen, Kristian Stølevik
Tarama, Mitsusuke
Löwen, Hartmut
contents Intelligent behavior in life-like systems often arises from the ability to gather, process, and act on information. While active matter provides a framework for studying life-like dynamics, it typically omits internal information-processing and decision-making. Here we introduce an adaptive active particle model that uses minimal information processing capabilities in order to navigate towards a distant target. By combining renewal-based intermittent motion with the Cramér-Rao inequality, we derive a bound on the navigation speed valid for a wide range of information processing strategies. The framework captures hallmark features of cognitive systems, including optimal sensing durations and a speed-accuracy trade-off that balances noise and reliability. Allowing stored information to degrade before action reveals that although deterioration slows navigation, the trade-off remains governed primarily by external orientational noise and is remarkably insensitive to memory decay.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_23988
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Information bound on navigation speed in smart active matter
Olsen, Kristian Stølevik
Tarama, Mitsusuke
Löwen, Hartmut
Statistical Mechanics
Soft Condensed Matter
Intelligent behavior in life-like systems often arises from the ability to gather, process, and act on information. While active matter provides a framework for studying life-like dynamics, it typically omits internal information-processing and decision-making. Here we introduce an adaptive active particle model that uses minimal information processing capabilities in order to navigate towards a distant target. By combining renewal-based intermittent motion with the Cramér-Rao inequality, we derive a bound on the navigation speed valid for a wide range of information processing strategies. The framework captures hallmark features of cognitive systems, including optimal sensing durations and a speed-accuracy trade-off that balances noise and reliability. Allowing stored information to degrade before action reveals that although deterioration slows navigation, the trade-off remains governed primarily by external orientational noise and is remarkably insensitive to memory decay.
title Information bound on navigation speed in smart active matter
topic Statistical Mechanics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23988