Article
Dynamics of two-group conflicts: a statistical physics model
Physica A
(2017)
Abstract
We propose a "social physics" model for two-group conflict. We consider two disputing groups.
Each individual i in each of the two groups has a preference si regarding the way in which the conflict
should be resolved. The individual preferences span a range between +M (prone to protracted
conflict) and M (prone to settle the conflict). The noise in this system is quantifi ed by a "social
temperature." Individuals interact within their group and with individuals of the other group. A
pair of individuals (i; j) within a group contributes -si sj to the energy. The inter-group energy
of individual i is taken to be proportional to the product between si and the mean value of the
preferences from the other group's members. We consider an equivalent-neighbor Renyi - Erdos
network where everyone interacts with everyone. We present some examples of conflicts that may
be described with this model.
Disciplines
Publication Date
March 1, 2017
Citation Information
H. T. Diep, Miron Kaufman and Sanda Kaufman. "Dynamics of two-group conflicts: a statistical physics model" Physica A Vol. 469 (2017) p. 183 - 199 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/miron_kaufman/59/