On Stochastic Cucker-Smale flocking dynamics

Abstract

We present a stochastic version of the Cucker-Smale flocking dynamics based on a markovian $N$-particle system of pair interactions with unbounded and, in general, non-Lipschitz continuous interaction potential. We establish the infinite particle limit $N \to \infty$ and identify the limit as a solution with a nonlinear martingale problem describing the law of a weak solution to a Vlasov-McKean stochastic equation with jumps. Moreover, we estimate the total variation and Wasserstein distance for the time-marginals from which uniqueness in the class of solutions having some finite exponential moments is deduced. Based on the uniqueness for the time-marginals we prove uniqueness in law for the Vlasov-McKean equation, i.e. we establish propagation of chaos.