English

Monte Carlo Simulations of Opinion Dynamics

Statistical Mechanics 2017-08-23 v1 Disordered Systems and Neural Networks

Abstract

We briefly introduce a new promising field of applications of statistical physics, opinion dynamics, where the systems at study are social groups or communities and the atoms/spins are the individuals (or agents) belonging to such groups. The opinion of each agent is modeled by a number, integer or real, and simple rules determine how the opinions vary as a consequence of discussions between people. Monte Carlo simulations of consensus models lead to patterns of self-organization among the agents which fairly well reproduce the trends observed in real social systems.

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0501105,
  title  = {Monte Carlo Simulations of Opinion Dynamics},
  author = {Santo Fortunato},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0501105},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

5 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the Proceedings of the Conference "Complexity, Metastability and Nonextensivity", Ettore Majorana Foundation and Center for Scientific Culture, Erice (Sicily) 20-26 July 2004