Sociophysics : an introduction

This book discusses the study and analysis of the physical aspects of social systems and models, inspired by the analogy with familiar models of physical systems and possible applications of statistical physics tools. Unlike the traditional analysis of the physics of macroscopic many-body or condensed matter systems, which is now an established and mature subject, the upsurge in the physical analysis and modelling of social systems, which are clearly many-body dynamical systems, is a recent phenomenon. Though the major developments in sociophysics have taken place only recently, the earliest attempts of proposing "Social Physics" as a discipline are more than one and a half centuries old. Various developments in the mainstream physics of condensed matter systems have inspired and induced the recent growth of sociophysical analysis and models. In spite of the tremendous efforts of many scientists in recent years, the subject is still in its infancy and major challenges are yet to be taken up. An introduction to these challenges is the main motivation for this book -- Provided by Publisher MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Contents 12 Figure acknowledgements 14 1 Introduction 16 2 Basic features of social systems and modelling 20 2.1 Topology of the underlying network structure 20 2.2 Individual and interactive dynamics 35 2.3 Modelling social systems 38 3 Opinion formation in a society 45 3.1 Important issues studied in opinion models 46 3.2 Some representative models with discrete opinion 47 3.3 Important models with continuous opinion 68 3.4 Other models of consensus 84 3.5 Logistic map for opinion-dynamics models 85 4 Social choices and popularity 88 4.1 Electoral results 88 4.2 Popularity of scholarly articles: citations 90 4.3 Popularity of movies 103 4.4 Popularity of online sites and web items 108 4.5 Competition and survival of languages 112 4.6 Universal features 120 5 Crowd-avoiding dynamical phenomena 124 5.1 Minority game 124 5.2 Kolkata paise restaurant problem 137 5.3 Summary 146 6 Social phenomena on complex networks 147 6.1 Opinion formation on special networks 147 6.2 Spreading processes 156 6.3 Collaboration networks and their properties 169 6.4 Social phenomena on coevolutionary networks 180 6.5 Is it really a small world? Searching post Milgram 183 7 Of flocks, flows and transports 194 7.1 Flocking in the animal world 194 7.2 Travelling patterns of individuals 195 7.3 Crowding behaviour of humans 196 7.4 Segregation dynamics 202 7.5 Mobility induced by transport 207 8 Endnote 217 Appendix A: Phase transitions and critical phenomena 220 A.1 Common phase transitions 220 A.2 A look back at thermodynamics 221 A.3 Fluctuations, critical exponents and scaling relations 223 Appendix B: Magnetic systems: static and dynamical behaviour 227 B.1 The Ising model 227 B.2 Beyond mean-field theory 229 B.3 Dynamics in the Ising model 235 Appendix C: Percolation and fractals 240 C.1 Percolation theory 240 C.2 Real-space renormalization group for percolation 243 C.3 Fractals 244 Appendix D: Random walks 247 D.1 Discrete random walk in one dimension 247 D.2 First-passage probability and persistence 249 D.3 Recurrence of unbiased random walks 250 D.4 Lévy walk 252 Appendix E: Monte Carlo simulations 253 E.1 Estimation of critical exponents 255 Appendix F: Some data analysis methods and useful tables 257 F.1 Data analysis methods 257 F.2 Tables 260 References 263 Index 296 A 296 B 296 C 296 D 296 E 296 F 297 G 297 H 297 I 297 K 297 L 297 M 297 N 297 O 297 P 297 Q 298 R 298 S 298 T 298 U 298 V 298 W 298 X 298 Y 298 Z 298 Basic Features Of Social Systems And Modelling -- Opinion Formation In A Society -- Social Choices And Popularity -- Crowd-avoiding Dynamical Phenomena -- Social Phenomena On Complex Networks -- Of Flocks, Flows And Transports -- Appendix A : Phase Transitions And Critical Phenomena -- Appendix B : Magnetic Systems : Static And Dynamical Behaviour -- Appendix C : Percolation And Fractals -- Appendix D : Random Walks -- Appendix E : Monte Carlo Simulations -- Appendix F : Some Data Analysis Methods And Useful Tables. Parongama Sen, Bikas K. Chakrabarti. Includes Bibliographical References (pages [248]-280) And Index.