English

Coexistence of opposite opinions in a network with communities

Physics and Society 2012-08-31 v1

Abstract

The Majority Rule is applied to a topology that consists of two coupled random networks, thereby mimicking the modular structure observed in social networks. We calculate analytically the asymptotic behaviour of the model and derive a phase diagram that depends on the frequency of random opinion flips and on the inter-connectivity between the two communities. It is shown that three regimes may take place: a disordered regime, where no collective phenomena takes place; a symmetric regime, where the nodes in both communities reach the same average opinion; an asymmetric regime, where the nodes in each community reach an opposite average opinion. The transition from the asymmetric regime to the symmetric regime is shown to be discontinuous.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.physics/0703266,
  title  = {Coexistence of opposite opinions in a network with communities},
  author = {R. Lambiotte and M. Ausloos},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0703266},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

14 pages, 4 figures