Development of numerical wild horse behavior experiment model by application of plasma particle simulation

Project Gist

Applying space plasma particle simulation to reproduce the behavior of wild horses.

Keywords

Wild horses, group of wild horses, space plasma particle simulations, supercomputers

Background and Purpose

Wild horses have high sociality and form groups with fixed members, but their ecology is not well understood. Recent observations have shown that horses within a group move away from each other when they get close and move closer when they move away from each other. The similarity of this behavior to the repulsive and attractive forces of magnetic field inspired the application of space plasma particle simulation. Our goal is to establish a simulation model that reproduces the positional relationships of wild horses with the space plasma simulation.

Project Achievements

We have developed a numerical simulation model of wild horses and it is actually used by researchers study wild horse. It brings us closer to establishing a new methodology “simulation” in addition to observation and theoretical studies. We also have held the symposiums on behavior and group, and new joint research projects were started among the participating researchers, contributing to the establishment of a research network. By managing the project with various kinds of support, we were able to learn how to proceed with scientific projects, which we have been able to apply to the management of other projects.

Future Prospects

We aim to obtain external funding such as Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research to continue and develop this project. In addition, we are considering applying for the Joint Usage/Research Center for Interdisciplinary Large-scale Information Infrastructures so that we can secure computing resources to run simulations using a supercomputer.

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Principal Investigator