Sociophysics : an introduction / Parongama Sen, Bikas K. Chakrabarti.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sen, P. (Parongama), 1963- author.

Chakrabarti, B. K. (Bikas K.), 1952- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sociophysics.

Physical Description:

xii, 283 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

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. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

2 Basic features of social systems and modelling 5

2.1 Topology of the underlying network structure 5

2.2 Individual and interactive dynamics 20

2.3 Modelling social systems 23

3 Opinion formation in a society 30

3.1 Important issues studied in opinion models 31

3.2 Some representative models with discrete opinion 32

3.3 Important models with continuous opinion 53

3.4 Other models of consensus 69

3.5 Logistic map for opinion-dynamics models 70

4 Social choices and popularity 73

4.1 Electoral results 73

4.2 Popularity of scholarly articles: citations 75

4.3 Popularity of movies 88

4.4 Popularity of online sites and web items 93

4.5 Competition and survival of languages 97

4.6 Universal features 105

5 Crowd-avoiding dynamical phenomena 109

5.1 Minority game 109

5.2 Kolkata paise restaurant problem 122

5.3 Summary 131

6 Social phenomena on complex networks 132

6.1 Opinion formation on special networks 132

6.2 Spreading processes 141

6.3 Collaboration networks and their properties 154

6.4 Social phenomena on coevolutionary networks 165

6.5 Is it really a small world? Searching post Milgram 168

7 Of flocks, flows and transports 179

7.1 Flocking in the animal world 179

7.2 Travelling patterns of individuals 180

7.3 Crowding behaviour of humans 181

7.4 Segregation dynamics 187

7.5 Mobility induced by transport 192

8 Endnote 202.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [248]-280)

ISBN:

9780199662456

0199662452

OCLC:

861919500