Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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SOE: Fachverband Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme

SOE 22: Social Systems, Opinion and Group Dynamics II

SOE 22.4: Talk

Friday, March 18, 2011, 12:00–12:15, GÖR 226

Unifying physical approaches to Schelling's model of segregation — •Tim Rogers and Alan McKane — School of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Manchester, Schuster Building, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

Schelling's model of segregation is one of the first and most influential models in the field of social simulation. Over the last 40 years the model has been studied extensively, first in the fields of sociology and economics, and more recently from the perspective of statistical physics. Thus far, the interest of the physics community in Schelling's model has largely been limited to drawing tentative parallels with certain physical systems, and the proposal and simulation of variants of the model. This approach has led to a somewhat fragmented physics literature on the subject.

In this talk, I will present a unified framework for the study of Schelling model and its many variants in the context of statistical physics. A simple metamodel is introduced and its range of behaviours is studied from analytical and numerical perspectives. This methodology is useful two regards: firstly, it provides a provides a tool to differentiate between phenomena which are unique to a particular variant of the Schelling model and those which are universal; secondly, these universal phenomena may be understood in more depth through analytic studies of simpler forms of the model.