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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sen, P. (Parongama), 1963-

Contributor:

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

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Physics.

Statistical physics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 283 pages ) illustrations (black and white)

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

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. 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, isa 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 inspiredand 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.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Figure acknowledgements

1 Introduction

2 Basic features of social systems and modelling

2.1 Topology of the underlying network structure

2.2 Individual and interactive dynamics

2.3 Modelling social systems

3 Opinion formation in a society

3.1 Important issues studied in opinion models

3.2 Some representative models with discrete opinion

3.3 Important models with continuous opinion

3.4 Other models of consensus

3.5 Logistic map for opinion-dynamics models

4 Social choices and popularity

4.1 Electoral results

4.2 Popularity of scholarly articles: citations

4.3 Popularity of movies

4.4 Popularity of online sites and web items

4.5 Competition and survival of languages

4.6 Universal features

5 Crowd-avoiding dynamical phenomena

5.1 Minority game

5.2 Kolkata paise restaurant problem

5.3 Summary

6 Social phenomena on complex networks

6.1 Opinion formation on special networks

6.2 Spreading processes

6.3 Collaboration networks and their properties

6.4 Social phenomena on coevolutionary networks

6.5 Is it really a small world? Searching post Milgram

7 Of flocks, flows and transports

7.1 Flocking in the animal world

7.2 Travelling patterns of individuals

7.3 Crowding behaviour of humans

7.4 Segregation dynamics

7.5 Mobility induced by transport

8 Endnote

Appendix A: Phase transitions and critical phenomena

A.1 Common phase transitions

A.2 A look back at thermodynamics

A.3 Fluctuations, critical exponents and scaling relations

Appendix B: Magnetic systems: static and dynamical behaviour

B.1 The Ising model

B.2 Beyond mean-field theory

B.3 Dynamics in the Ising model

Appendix C: Percolation and fractals

C.1 Percolation theory

C.2 Real-space renormalization group for percolation

C.3 Fractals.

Appendix D: Random walks

D.1 Discrete random walk in one dimension

D.2 First-passage probability and persistence

D.3 Recurrence of unbiased random walks

D.4 Lévy walk

Appendix E: Monte Carlo simulations

E.1 Estimation of critical exponents

Appendix F: Some data analysis methods and useful tables

F.1 Data analysis methods

F.2 Tables

References

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed October 10, 2013).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-163945-1

0-19-163944-3

OCLC:

1024260757