Experiments

After much tinkering, we settled on the following values for our model parameters:

• N: 150
• t: variable
• $P_{death}$: 0.03
• $P_{spawn, base}$: 0.30
• $P_{spawn, mat}$: 0.005
• $P_{ssuu}$: 0.50
• $P_{su}$: 0.53
• $P_{mutate, morph}$: 0.001
• $P_{mutate, geno}$: 0.001

To establish that our model exhibited the required dynamics, we performed the preliminary experiments outlined in the assignment:

• Single-cell proliferation
• Fusing colonies
• Rejecting colonies (passive and active)

To explore deeper dynamics we conducted the following experiments (which were partially described in the assignment):

• Long-term fusing: What happens after an extremely long period of time to two colonies which recognize each other?
• Competitive Exclusion: What kind of situation results in one colony dominating all others in the area?
• Rock-Paper-Scissors: Is it possible to construct a rock-paper-scissors style dynamical system using the Hydractinia colonies?
• Genotypic Mutation: What role does genotypic mutation serve when activated? What dynamics does it lead to?
• Morphological Mutation: What role does morphological mutation serve when activated? What dynamics does it lead to?
• What other interesting dynamics do we observe in the simulation?