Energy landscape of social balance

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Nov 6;103(19):198701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.198701. Epub 2009 Nov 4.

Abstract

We model a close-knit community of friends and enemies as a fully connected network with positive and negative signs on its edges. Theories from social psychology suggest that certain sign patterns are more stable than others. This notion of social "balance" allows us to define an energy landscape for such networks. Its structure is complex: numerical experiments reveal a landscape dimpled with local minima of widely varying energy levels. We derive rigorous bounds on the energies of these local minima and prove that they have a modular structure that can be used to classify them.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Social Environment*
  • Thermodynamics