Patrick M. Hogan, theoretical biologist

Patrick M. Hogan
	Postdoctoral research associate Department of Computer Science University of Sheffield Regent Court 211 Portobello Sheffield S1 4DP United Kingdom Office: LG50, Kroto Research Campus patrick dot hogan at physics dot org

News

Latest

Our paper on collective decision-making in honey bees has been published in Science [perspective] [podcast] [radio interview] [media: 1 2 3 4 5 6...]

2012 talks

22 Jun I shall be giving a seminar at the Department of Biology, York
13 Apr I spoke at the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour Easter conference, Aberystwyth
18 Jan I gave a seminar at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Edinburgh

2011 talks

15 Dec I spoke at the IUSSI Northwest European Section winter meeting, Brighton
13 Sep I gave a Theoretical Ecology Lab Tea at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton, New Jersey
24 Mar I spoke at the American Physical Society March Meeting, Texas
16 Mar I gave a brief talk at the Insect Self-organization and Swarming workshop of the Mathematical Biosciences Institute, Ohio

2010 talks

21 Sep I spoke at the Frontiers of Multidisciplinary Research: Mathematics, Engineering and Biology conference, Exeter
10 Aug I spoke at the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI) congress, Denmark

Research

My research is focused on the mathematical modelling of collective decision-making in social insect colonies, primarily through the application of methods from statistical physics, and working in close collaboration with empirical behavioural ecologists. I am interested in how complex colony behaviour emerges naturally from the very simple interactions found between individual insects, with a strong emphasis on relating empirical observations to a rigorous mathematical framework.

More generally, my research interests include:

Collective decision-making
Social behaviour of insects and humans
Stochastic processes and the application of statistical physics to the biological sciences
Population dynamics and dynamical systems theory

I am currently working on a grant with James Marshall entitled "Optimal Collective Decision-Making in Social Insect Colonies", in close collaboration with Nigel Franks and Thomas Schlegel at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol. Other recent and current collaborators include:

Tom Seeley, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University
Kirk Visscher, College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of California Riverside
Naomi Leonard and Darren Pais, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

I am also a member of the Behavioural and Evolutionary Theory (BET) Lab, Sheffield and the Bristol Ant Lab.

Publications

T. D. Seeley, P. K. Visscher, T. Schlegel, P. M. Hogan, N. R. Franks and J. A. R. Marshall
Stop signals provide cross inhibition in collective decision-making by honeybee swarms
Science 335, 108 (2012) [doi] [perspective] [podcast] [radio interview] [media: 1 2 3 4 5 6...]

N. Stroeymeyt, E. J. H. Robinson, P. M. Hogan, J. A. R. Marshall, M. Giurfa and N. R. Franks
Experience-dependent flexibility in collective decision-making by house-hunting ants
Behavioral Ecology 22, 535 (2011) [doi]

P. M. Hogan and A. G. Green
Universal nonlinear conductivity close to an itinerant-electron quantum critical point
Physical Review B 78, 195104 (2008) [doi]

P. M. Hogan and J. T. Chalker
Path integrals, diffusion on SU(2) and the fully frustrated antiferromagnetic spin cluster
Journal Of Physics A: Mathematical And General 37, 11751 (2004) [doi]

P. M. Hogan, A. R. Tajbakhsh and E. M. Terentjev
UV manipulation of order and macroscopic shape in nematic elastomers
Physical Review E 65, 041720 (2002) [doi] [102 citations]

Trajectory

(Mouse-over for names)

	M.Sci. (first class) M.A.
	B.A. D.Phil. (quantum magnetism)
	Postdoc (quantum criticality)
	Postdoc (collective opinion formation)
	Postdoc (social insect behaviour)
	Postdoc (social insect behaviour)

Personal

My climbing logbook

Last updated 19 April 2012