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Related papers: Opinion Dynamics Steering using Stochastic Search

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In this paper we propose a novel control approach for opinion dynamics on evolving networks. The controls modify the strength of connections in the network, rather than influencing opinions directly, with the overall goal of steering the…

Physics and Society · Physics 2024-04-16 Andrew Nugent , Susana N. Gomes , Marie-Therese Wolfram

A central concern in an interactive intelligent system is optimization of its actions, to be maximally helpful to its human user. In recommender systems for instance, the action is to choose what to recommend, and the optimization task is…

Human-Computer Interaction · Computer Science 2020-05-05 Fabio Colella , Pedram Daee , Jussi Jokinen , Antti Oulasvirta , Samuel Kaski

We study binary opinion dynamics in a fully connected network of interacting agents. The agents are assumed to interact according to one of the following rules: (1) Voter rule: An updating agent simply copies the opinion of another randomly…

Probability · Mathematics 2022-03-04 Arpan Mukhopadhyay , Ravi R. Mazumdar , Rahul Roy

We propose a continuous-time multi-option nonlinear generalization of classical linear weighted-average opinion dynamics. Nonlinearity is introduced by saturating opinion exchanges, and this is enough to enable a significantly greater range…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-11-07 Anastasia Bizyaeva , Alessio Franci , Naomi Ehrich Leonard

The goal of this paper is to solve a class of stochastic optimal control problems numerically, in which the state process is governed by an It\^o type stochastic differential equation with control process entering both in the drift and the…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-06-05 Richard Archibald , Feng Bao , Jiongmin Yong , Tao Zhou

Temporal point processes have been widely applied to model event sequence data generated by online users. In this paper, we consider the problem of how to design the optimal control policy for point processes, such that the stochastic…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2017-11-13 Yichen Wang , Grady Williams , Evangelos Theodorou , Le Song

Networked multi-agent dynamical systems have been used to model how individual opinions evolve over time due to the opinions of other agents in the network. Particularly, such a model has been used to study how a planning agent can be used…

Social and Information Networks · Computer Science 2026-03-19 Sheryl Paul , Leslie Cruz Juarez , Jyotirmoy V. Deshmukh , Ketan Savla

Opinion dynamics, the evolution of individuals through social interactions, is an important area of research with applications ranging from politics to marketing. Due to its interdisciplinary relevance, studies of opinion dynamics remain…

Social and Information Networks · Computer Science 2025-11-04 Mohammad Shirzadi , Emilio Cruciani , Ahad N. Zehmakan

Feedback optimisation is an emerging technique aiming at steering a system to an optimal steady state for a given objective function. We show that it is possible to employ this control strategy in a distributed manner. Moreover, we prove…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-03-01 Antonio Terpin , Sylvain Fricker , Michel Perez , Mathias Hudoba de Badyn , Florian Dörfler

The recent interest in human dynamics has led researchers to investigate the stochastic processes that explain human behaviour in various contexts. Here we propose a generative model to capture the dynamics of survival analysis,…

Physics and Society · Physics 2015-09-30 Trevor Fenner , Mark Levene , George Loizou

We extend a classical model of continuous opinion formation to explicitly include an age-structured population. We begin by considering a stochastic differential equation model which incorporates ageing dynamics and birth/death processes,…

Analysis of PDEs · Mathematics 2026-01-14 Andrew Nugent , Susana N. Gomes , Marie-Therese Wolfram

In this work we are interested in the modelling and control of opinion dynamics spreading on a time evolving network with scale-free asymptotic degree distribution. The mathematical model is formulated as a coupling of an opinion alignment…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2015-11-03 Giacomo Albi , Lorenzo Pareschi , Mattia Zanella

We investigate opinion dynamics in a fully-connected system, consisting of $n$ identical and anonymous agents, where one of the opinions (which is called correct) represents a piece of information to disseminate. In more detail, one source…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2023-02-20 Luca Becchetti , Andrea Clementi , Amos Korman , Francesco Pasquale , Luca Trevisan , Robin Vacus

Opinion Dynamics (OD) models are a particular case of Agent-Based Models in which the evolution of opinions within a population is studied. In most OD models, opinions evolve as a consequence of interactions between agents, and the opinion…

Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science · Computer Science 2025-06-26 Víctor A. Vargas-Pérez , Jesús Giráldez-Cru , Oscar Cordón

Traditional models of opinion dynamics provide a simple approach to understanding human behavior in basic social scenarios. However, when it comes to issues such as polarization and extremism, we require a more nuanced understanding of…

Physics and Society · Physics 2023-03-08 Andre C. R. Martins

Stochastic resetting, the procedure of stopping and re-initializing random processes, has recently emerged as a powerful tool for accelerating processes ranging from queuing systems to molecular simulations. However, its usefulness is…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2025-03-18 Tommer D. Keidar , Ofir Blumer , Barak Hirshberg , Shlomi Reuveni

Guided policy search algorithms have been proven to work with incredible accuracy for not only controlling a complicated dynamical system, but also learning optimal policies from various unseen instances. One assumes true nature of the…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2020-10-02 Prakash Mallick , Zhiyong Chen , Mohsen Zamani

We study contextual stochastic optimization problems, where we leverage rich auxiliary observations (e.g., product characteristics) to improve decision making with uncertain variables (e.g., demand). We show how to train forest decision…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-03-17 Nathan Kallus , Xiaojie Mao

We present a model of opinion dynamics in which agents adjust continuous opinions as a result of random binary encounters whenever their difference in opinion is below a given threshold. High thresholds yield convergence of opinions towards…

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks · Physics 2007-05-23 Gerard Weisbuch , Guillaume Deffuant , Frederic Amblard , Jean Pierre Nadal

We introduce a stochastic model of binary opinion dynamics in which the opinions are determined by the size of the neighbouring domains. The exit probability here shows a step function behaviour indicating the existence of a separatrix…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2014-07-08 Soham Biswas , Suman Sinha , Parongama Sen