Symmetric preferences, asymmetric outcomes: Tipping dynamics in an open-city segregation model
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arXiv
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| Auteurs principaux: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866912894470324224 |
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| author | van Dissel, Fabio Pham, Tuan Minh Merbis, Wout |
| author_facet | van Dissel, Fabio Pham, Tuan Minh Merbis, Wout |
| contents | Schelling's model of segregation demonstrates that even in the absence of social or governmental interventions, individuals with mild in-group preferences can self-organize into strongly segregated neighborhoods. Many variants of this celebrated model have been proposed by assuming agents tend to increase their satisfaction. Complementary to this traditional, utility-based approach, we model residential moves using satisfaction-independent reaction rates in a spatially extended chemical reaction network. The resulting model exhibits a counter-intuitive phenomenon: despite symmetric in-group preferences, the system undergoes a tipping transition at a critical preference level, beyond which one agent type dominates. We characterize this asymmetric phase transition in details using mean-field analysis, numerical simulations and finite size scaling methods. We find that while the transition shares key features with the Ising universality class, such as $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry breaking and similar exponent ratios, the full set of critical exponents does not match any known universality class. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_09795 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Symmetric preferences, asymmetric outcomes: Tipping dynamics in an open-city segregation model van Dissel, Fabio Pham, Tuan Minh Merbis, Wout Physics and Society Statistical Mechanics Schelling's model of segregation demonstrates that even in the absence of social or governmental interventions, individuals with mild in-group preferences can self-organize into strongly segregated neighborhoods. Many variants of this celebrated model have been proposed by assuming agents tend to increase their satisfaction. Complementary to this traditional, utility-based approach, we model residential moves using satisfaction-independent reaction rates in a spatially extended chemical reaction network. The resulting model exhibits a counter-intuitive phenomenon: despite symmetric in-group preferences, the system undergoes a tipping transition at a critical preference level, beyond which one agent type dominates. We characterize this asymmetric phase transition in details using mean-field analysis, numerical simulations and finite size scaling methods. We find that while the transition shares key features with the Ising universality class, such as $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry breaking and similar exponent ratios, the full set of critical exponents does not match any known universality class. |
| title | Symmetric preferences, asymmetric outcomes: Tipping dynamics in an open-city segregation model |
| topic | Physics and Society Statistical Mechanics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.09795 |