Coevolution and local versus global interactions in collective dynamics of opinion formation, cultural dissemination and social learning

Laburpena

The concept of Complex Systems has evolved from Chaos, Statistical Physics and other disciplines, and it has become a new paradigm for the search of mechanisms and an uni?ed interpretation of the processes of emergence of structures, organization and functionality in a variety of natural and arti?cial phenomena in di erent contexts [1–8]. The study of Complex Systems has become a problem of enormous common interest for scientists and professionals from various ?elds, including the Social Sciences, leading to an intense process of interdisciplinary and unusual collaborations that extend and overlap the frontiers of traditional Science [18–26]. The use of concepts and techniques emerging from the study of Complex Systems and Statistical Physics has proven capable of contributing to the understanding of problems beyond the traditional boundaries of Physics. Phenomena such as the spontaneous formation of structures, self-organization, spatial patterns, synchronization and collective oscillations, spiral waves, segregation and di erentiation, formation and growth of domains, consensus phenomena [1–8, 11, 27–29] are examples of emerging processes that occur in various contexts such as physical, chemical, biological, social and economic systems, etc. These processes are the result of interactions and synergetic cooperation among the elements of a system. The general concept of Complex System has been applied to sets of elements capable of generating global structures or functions that are absent at the local level. Understanding the complex collective behavior of many particles systems, in terms of macroscopic descriptions based on local interaction rules of evolution leading to the emergence of global phenomena is at the core of Statistical Physics and it is relevant in Social Sciences. An example of this micro-macro paradigm that shows a close relationship between both ?elds, Statistical Physics and Social Science, is Schelling’s model of residential segregation, mathematically equivalent to the zero-temperature spin-exchange Kinetic Ising model with vacancies.