Nonequilibrium transitions in complex networks: a model of social interaction

TL;DR

This paper investigates how social interaction models behave on different complex networks, revealing how network structure influences the emergence of order or disorder in social dynamics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of network topology on phase transitions in Axelrod's social interaction model, including the effects of disorder and scale-free structures.

Findings

Transition between ordered and disordered states depends on network type.

In small world networks, disorder shifts the transition point.

In scale-free networks, the transition depends on system size and network structure.

Abstract

We analyze the non-equilibrium order-disorder transition of Axelrod's model of social interaction in several complex networks. In a small world network, we find a transition between an ordered homogeneous state and a disordered state. The transition point is shifted by the degree of spatial disorder of the underlying network, the network disorder favoring ordered configurations. In random scale-free networks the transition is only observed for finite size systems, showing system size scaling, while in the thermodynamic limit only ordered configurations are always obtained. Thus in the thermodynamic limit the transition disappears. However, in structured scale-free networks, the phase transition between an ordered and a disordered phase is restored.