Active matter refers to systems composed of self-propelled agents or particles that consume energy to generate motion and collectively produce emergent, large-scale dynamic behaviors distinct from those of passive physical systems. In the context of pedestrian and crowd modeling, active matter frameworks are relevant because human crowds exhibit many hallmarks of active systems — including self-organization, collective flow patterns, and phase transitions — making concepts from active matter physics a useful lens for understanding and modeling crowd dynamics at both the individual and collective scales. Key variants in this domain include continuous agent-based models such as social force approaches, where each agent follows local interaction rules, and anticipatory or decision-coupled models like ANDA that extend classical active matter descriptions by incorporating cognitive or decisional processes alongside purely mechanical ones.
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