Collective phenomena in economy and society

“ We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people. ~Pierre Omidyar ”

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Collective Phenomena Red Spiders Physics Physics Blah Society Economy Blah Society Blah

Also known as mass action, collective behavior, and artificial chemistry, collective phenomena is the idea that a large number of small units (especially atoms or molecules) acting randomly by themselves can in fact have a larger pattern. Strong interactions such as those in macroscopic systems frequently induce transitions and lead to new equilibrium phases of matter. These phases exhibit their own characteristic fluctuations or elementary excitations known as collective modes. Although a description of these phenomena at the microscopic level can be quite complicated, the important large scale, or longtime hydrodynamic behavior is often is often simple to describe.

Phenomenal approaches based on this concept have led to certain quantum as well as classical field theories that over recent years have played a major role in shaping our understanding of condensed matter and high energy physics.

Our goal is to develop a framework in which to describe critical properties associated with classical and quantum phase transitions; and at the same time to emphasize the importance and role played by symmetry and topography.

1. Mass action (sociology), in sociology, a term for situations in which a large number of people behave simultaneously in similar ways individually and without coordination
2. Mass action (physics), in statistical physics, the proposition that a large number of small units acting randomly may compose a larger pattern

Physics

• Solitons
• Perturbation theory in quantum mechanics
• Ising Model
• The quantization of magnetic flux in a superconductor
• quantum Hall effect are both collective phenomena associated with thermodynamically large numbers of particles.

Economy

Civilization, the Formation of Nations

8000 years ago, the ancestors of humanity--whether they lived in sedentary villages or mobile bands, whether they collected wild foods or herded flocks or cultivated gardens--lived in a world of kin and ritual in which the exploitation of many by a few was held in check. In a millennium or less, first in Mesopotamia, then in Egypt, then in India, China, Peru, Mexico, and elsewhere, villagers were incorporated into larger polities focused on sprawling urban centers and ruled by emergent elites. Did people willingly give up their independence to join such new polities or were they coerced by despots? The Dynamics of Civilizations Group at SFI, led by SFI External Professors Henry Wright and Doug White , and Science Board Member Bob Adams , aims to explain this fundamental transformation in the human career accelerated during the 20th century.

Languages

As time passes, languages change. Vocabulary items (and grammatical features) are passed along from care-givers to children, often with alterations of meaning and/or pronunciation. This process of “vertical” transmission may be contrasted with the “horizontal” process of borrowing features from neighboring languages. A language evolves into “daughter” languages descended by vertical transmission from a common “proto-language,” with sound changes tending to follow definite rules. Meanwhile, borrowing occurs as well, complicating the picture.

Religions

condensation of vapor into liquid droplets

Society

Society shows sometimes abrupt changes - revolutions - which are related to phase transitions: both are sudden and dramatic changes of behavior.

Social systems are prominent examples of complex systems. Concepts, tools and models aiming at identifying generic mechanisms underlying collective phenomena in these systems are developed with the use of

Game Theory

gene-culture co-evolutionary models, agent-based simulations, and behavioral experiments.

Revolution

cultural conflicts and problems of social consensus are examples of phenomena being addressed.

Other Examples

Animal Magnetism, like Herding

References

1. http://www.santafe.edu/research/topics-dynamics-human-behavior-institutions.php
2. Soft Condensed Matter, by Richard A. L. Jones (Oxford University Press, 2007).
3. Solid State Physics, by J. R. Hook and H. E. Hall (Wiley, 2007).
4. http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~bds10/phase.html