Selected Topics of Social Physics: Equilibrium Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces the physics of social systems focusing on equilibrium models, providing definitions, models, and insights suitable for both beginners and experienced researchers, as part of a tutorial and survey series.

Contribution

It offers an accessible introduction to social physics with recent original models, bridging basic concepts and advanced research insights.

Findings

Illustrates social system behavior with simple models

Provides definitions and notions for social physics modeling

Presents recent original models with new ideas

Abstract

The present review is based on the lectures that the author had been giving during several years at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich). Being bounded by lecture frames, the selection of the material, by necessity, is limited and is motivated by the author's research interests. The paper gives an introduction to the physics of social systems, providing the main definitions and notions used in the modeling of these systems. The behavior of social systems is illustrated by several simple typical models. The present part considers equilibrium systems. Nonequilibrium systems will be presented in the second part of the lectures. The style of the paper combines the features of a tutorial and a survey, which, from one side, makes it easy to read for nonspecialists aiming at grasping the basics of social physics, and from the other side, describes several rather recent original models containing new ideas that could be of interest to experienced researchers in the field.