Non-equilibrium phase transition in negotiation dynamics

TL;DR

This paper presents a model of negotiation dynamics that exhibits a non-equilibrium phase transition from consensus to polarization or fragmentation, highlighting the role of memory and feedback in opinion formation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel microscopic model of negotiation dynamics with memory and feedback, revealing distinct universality classes for different opinion counts.

Findings

Identifies a phase transition from consensus to polarized or fragmented states.

Shows universality classes depend on the number of opinions, not network topology.

Provides analytical and numerical analysis across various network structures.

Abstract

We introduce a model of negotiation dynamics whose aim is that of mimicking the mechanisms leading to opinion and convention formation in a population of individuals. The negotiation process, as opposed to ``herding-like'' or ``bounded confidence'' driven processes, is based on a microscopic dynamics where memory and feedback play a central role. Our model displays a non-equilibrium phase transition from an absorbing state in which all agents reach a consensus to an active stationary state characterized either by polarization or fragmentation in clusters of agents with different opinions. We show the exystence of at least two different universality classes, one for the case with two possible opinions and one for the case with an unlimited number of opinions. The phase transition is studied analytically and numerically for various topologies of the agents' interaction network. In both cases the universality classes do not seem to depend on the specific interaction topology, the only relevant feature being the total number of different opinions ever present in the system.