DYNAMICAL PHASE TRANSITIONS IN OPINION NETWORKS:COEXISTENCE OF OPPORTUNISTS AND CONTRARIANS

摘要

We study a model for the emergence of collective decision making, consisting of N in-teracting agents, whose opinions are described by Ising spin variables. In particular, wepresent dynamical phase transitions from ordered to chaotic behavior in the space-timeevolution of the binary choice network. One focus of this study is the determination ofcritical parameters, where the network is placed "at the edge of chaos," i.e., at a subtlecompromise between stability and flexibility, where the system has both, the necessarystability and the potential for "evolutionary" improvements.