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Health & Science3h 9m ago
Physicists have developed a new framework that allows the use of established mathematical tools to study nonreciprocal systems, such as bird flocks, where Newton's third law does not apply.
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Max Planck Institute
Who
Marin Bukov, Ricard Alert, Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Max Planck Institute
What
Physicists have developed a new framework that allows the use of established mathematical tools to study nonreciprocal systems, such as bird flocks, where Newton's third law does not apply.
When
Sun, 14 Jun 2026 12:11:00 GMT · 3h 9m ago
Where
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Max Planck Institute ·
Why
Many real-world collective systems, like bird flocks and moving cells, exhibit nonreciprocal interactions, posing a challenge because traditional mathematical tools in physics assume balanced action and reaction.
The Frontline Impact
How this affects you
This new theoretical framework enables scientists to apply standard analytical and computational approaches to nonreciprocal systems, potentially allowing for more efficient analysis of larger systems and exploration of previously inaccessible behaviors in fields from biology to quantum physics.
Story chain
2 events in this thread- Currently Reading3h 9m agoPhysicists have developed a new framework that allows the use of established mathematical tools to study nonreciprocal systems, such as bird flocks, where Newton's third law does not apply.
- Health & Science3h 9m agoPhysicists have developed a new theoretical framework that allows established mathematical tools to be applied to nonreciprocal systems, which previously challenged Newton's third law.Open article
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