Center for Complex and Nonlinear Science

This paper summarizes work on a parallel algorithm for an interacting particle model, derived from the model by Czirok, Vicsek, et. al. [13] [3] [14] [4] [5]. Our model is particularly geared toward simulating the behavior of sh in large shoals. In this paper, the back- ground and motivation for the problem are given, as well as an introduction to the mathematical model. A discussion of implementing this model in MATLAB and C++ follows. The parallel implementation is discussed with challenges particular to this mathematical model and how the authors addressed these challenges. Both static and dynamic load balancing were performed and are discussed. Finally, a performance analysis follows, using a performance metric to compare the MATLAB, C++, and parallelized code.