Van Kampen's expansion approach in an opinion formation model
Physics and Society
2009-11-11 v1
Abstract
We analyze a simple opinion formation model consisting of two parties, A and B, and a group I, of undecided agents. We assume that the supporters of parties A and B do not interact among them, but only interact through the group I, and that there is a nonzero probability of a spontaneous change of opinion (A->I, B->I). From the master equation, and via van Kampen's Omega-expansion approach, we have obtained the "macroscopic" evolution equation, as well as the Fokker-Planck equation governing the fluctuations around the deterministic behavior. Within the same approach, we have also obtained information about the typical relaxation behavior of small perturbations.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0603047,
title = {Van Kampen's expansion approach in an opinion formation model},
author = {M. S. de la Lama and I. G. Szendro and J. R. Iglesias and H. S. Wio},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0603047},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
17 pages, 6 figures, submited to Europ.Phys.J.B