Opinion formation models on a gradient

Statistical physicists have become interested in models of collective social behavior such as opinion formation, where individuals change their inherently preferred opinion if their friends disagree. Real preferences often depend on regional cultural differences, which we model here as a spatial gra...

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Published inPloS one Vol. 9; no. 12; p. e114088
Main Authors Gastner, Michael T, Markou, Nikolitsa, Pruessner, Gunnar, Draief, Moez
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Public Library of Science 04.12.2014
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects
Cluster Analysis
Computer and Information Sciences
Fractals
Geometry
Mathematical models
Mathematics
Models, Theoretical
Monte Carlo simulation
Percolation
Physical Sciences
Physicists
Science
Size distribution
Social Behavior
Social Sciences
Statistical analysis
Two dimensional models
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Summary:Statistical physicists have become interested in models of collective social behavior such as opinion formation, where individuals change their inherently preferred opinion if their friends disagree. Real preferences often depend on regional cultural differences, which we model here as a spatial gradient g in the initial opinion. The gradient does not only add reality to the model. It can also reveal that opinion clusters in two dimensions are typically in the standard (i.e., independent) percolation universality class, thus settling a recent controversy about a non-consensus model. However, using analytical and numerical tools, we also present a model where the width of the transition between opinions scales proportional g(-1/4), not proportional g(-4/7) as in independent percolation, and the cluster size distribution is consistent with first-order percolation.
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Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Conceived and designed the experiments: MTG NM GP MD. Performed the experiments: MTG NM. Analyzed the data: MTG NM GP. Wrote the paper: MTG NM GP MD.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0114088