Barrier induced stalemate-consensus transition of self-propelled participants subject to majority rule
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arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866915277267009536 |
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| author | Xiao, Yan-Wen Guo, Wei-Chen Ai, Bao-Quan He, Liang |
| author_facet | Xiao, Yan-Wen Guo, Wei-Chen Ai, Bao-Quan He, Liang |
| contents | Natural or artificial barriers, such as the Himalayas, the Berlin Wall, or the Korean Demilitarized Zone, can significantly impede human migration. As a consequence, they may also hinder the dissemination of opinions within society, thereby contributing to divergent geopolitical landscapes and cultural developments. This raises a fundamental question: how do such barriers influence the opinion dynamics of mobile agents, such as human beings? In particular, can a barrier induce transitions in collective opinion states among spatially segregated groups? Here, we investigate the opinion dynamics governed by majority rule in a minimal model comprising self-propelled agents with binary opinions performing random walks within a closed space divided by a barrier. We focus on the conditions under which initially segregated clusters of agents with opposing opinions can reach consensus. Our results reveal the existence of a critical barrier size that marks a transition between stalemate and consensus states. Near this critical point, the relaxation time to reach consensus from an initial stalemate exhibits a power-law divergence. This barrier-induced stalemate-consensus transition in a simple agent-based model offers new insights into the role of physical or social barriers in shaping opinion dynamics and social structures. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_03464 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Barrier induced stalemate-consensus transition of self-propelled participants subject to majority rule Xiao, Yan-Wen Guo, Wei-Chen Ai, Bao-Quan He, Liang Physics and Society Soft Condensed Matter Natural or artificial barriers, such as the Himalayas, the Berlin Wall, or the Korean Demilitarized Zone, can significantly impede human migration. As a consequence, they may also hinder the dissemination of opinions within society, thereby contributing to divergent geopolitical landscapes and cultural developments. This raises a fundamental question: how do such barriers influence the opinion dynamics of mobile agents, such as human beings? In particular, can a barrier induce transitions in collective opinion states among spatially segregated groups? Here, we investigate the opinion dynamics governed by majority rule in a minimal model comprising self-propelled agents with binary opinions performing random walks within a closed space divided by a barrier. We focus on the conditions under which initially segregated clusters of agents with opposing opinions can reach consensus. Our results reveal the existence of a critical barrier size that marks a transition between stalemate and consensus states. Near this critical point, the relaxation time to reach consensus from an initial stalemate exhibits a power-law divergence. This barrier-induced stalemate-consensus transition in a simple agent-based model offers new insights into the role of physical or social barriers in shaping opinion dynamics and social structures. |
| title | Barrier induced stalemate-consensus transition of self-propelled participants subject to majority rule |
| topic | Physics and Society Soft Condensed Matter |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.03464 |