On the multi-cluster flocking of the fractional Cucker–Smale model

This paper demonstrates several sufficient frameworks for the multi-cluster flocking behavior of the fractional Cucker–Smale (CS) model. For this, we first employ the Caputo fractional derivative instead of the usual derivative to propose the fractional CS model with the memory effect. Then, using mathematical tools based on fractional calculus, we present suitable sufficient conditions in terms of properly separated initial data close to the multi-cluster, and well-prepared system parameters for the multi-cluster flocking of the fractional system to emerge. Finally, we offer several numerical simulations and compare them with the analytical results.