IIT Mandi’s Quantum-Inspired Vision Sheds New Light on Collective Motion

IIT Mandi researchers uncover how quantum-inspired dynamics in visual perception can
explain flocking, swarming, and coordination, opening doors to new advances in robotics and neuroscience

Why do birds flock, fish school, or humans synchronize their
movements without a designated leader? This age-old question has fascinated scientists across
disciplines for decades. Now, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have put
forward a groundbreaking explanation: the secret may lie in quantum-inspired perception.
The study, led by Prof. Laxmidhar Behera and his team, Dr. Jyotiranjan Beuria and Mayank
Chaurasiya, recently published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A (2025),
introduces a radical mathematical framework to explain how coordination emerges in nature. In
classical models of collective motion, such as the well-known Vicsek model, agents align their
movement based on their neighbors’ directions. While these models capture some aspects of
swarming and flocking, they often fall short in accounting for real-world complexities, such as noisy
environments, delays in response, or ambiguous information. The IIT Mandi team approached the
puzzle from a different angle. Drawing inspiration from quantum mechanics, they proposed that
each agent’s perception does not collapse immediately into a definite decision. Instead, it exists in a
superposition of possibilities, much like a particle in quantum physics can exist in multiple states
until observed.
Commenting on the study, Prof. Laxmidhar Behera, Director of IIT Mandi and co-author of the
paper, said, “Our work shows that quantum-inspired ideas can move beyond physics and
provide fresh insight into one of nature’s oldest mysteries: how collective order arises out of
local perception. The implications range from understanding the mind and brain to
engineering next-generation intelligent systems.” His words reflect a growing trend in modern
science: borrowing principles from quantum theory to enrich disciplines far beyond fundamental
physics. By bridging cognitive science, biology, and engineering, the IIT Mandi study points to a
unifying framework for perception and coordination.
A Unified Framework for Nature and Machines
In this framework, agents perceive their neighbors not through fixed snapshots but through
entangled perceptual states that evolve dynamically. Coordination arises naturally as these states
resolve, balancing uncertainty and alignment in a way that mirrors quantum behavior. A central

contribution of the study is the introduction of two novel quantities: perception strength, which
measures how strongly agents align their perceptual states, and perceptual energy, which measures
the stability of collective perception within the group. Together, these measures allow scientists to
quantify how coordination emerges even in noisy or incomplete conditions. Importantly, the
researchers demonstrated that classical flocking models are special cases of their broader,
quantum-inspired theory. This means that existing frameworks for collective motion can be seen as
approximations within a more general, perception-driven model.
New Metrics for Measuring Group Intelligence
The implications of this work extend far beyond theory. In biology, the framework offers a new
perspective on how swarms of animals remain cohesive despite disturbances. Instead of relying
solely on physical interaction rules, the study suggests that perception itself plays a fundamental
role in generating order in living systems.
Game-Changing Implications
In robotics, swarm robotics such as coordinated drones used in search-and-rescue operations,
environmental monitoring, or planetary exploration could adopt quantum-inspired perception to
achieve more flexible and adaptive coordination. In neuroscience and psychology, the study
resonates with how human perception often involves ambiguity, sudden switching, and context-
dependent interpretation. By offering a rigorous mathematical model for perceptual dynamics, the
framework provides a fresh way to understand brain function and cognitive processes. In artificial
intelligence, future AI systems could harness quantum-inspired perceptual operators to handle
uncertainty with greater robustness, avoiding brittle or premature decisions when confronted with
ambiguous or incomplete data.