Strength in numbers? Not always!

Rinaldo B. Schinazi

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2011, vol. 390, issue 10, 1737-1740

Abstract: We propose a simple model to compute the probability of success under a particular quorum sensing strategy. We show that this quorum sensing strategy has a higher probability of success than an individualistic strategy when, for instance, the probability of success for a single individual is low and the cost of building a quorum is not too high. On the other hand, if the cost of building a quorum is too high, then the probability of success under quorum sensing always decreases as a function of the quorum. We also give an example showing that the probability of success as a function of the quorum is not necessarily monotone.

Keywords: Quorum sensing probability model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:390:y:2011:i:10:p:1737-1740

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2010.12.026

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