Voter Models and External Influence

Jimit Majmudar; Stephen M. Krone; Bert O. Baumgaertner; Rebecca C. Tyson

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arXiv · 1511.04160

Voter Models and External Influence

Jimit Majmudar·Stephen M. Krone·Bert O. Baumgaertner·Rebecca C. Tyson

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Abstract

In this paper, we extend the voter model (VM) and the threshold voter model (TVM) to include external influences modelled as a jump process. We study the newly-formulated models both analytically and computationally, employing diffusion approximations and mean field approximations. We derive results pertaining to the probability of reaching consensus on a particular opinion and also the expected consensus time. We find that although including an external influence leads to a faster consensus in general, this effect is more pronounced in the VM as compared to the TVM. Our findings suggest the potential importance of "macro-level" phenomena such as the external influences as compared to "micro-level" local interactions.

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BibTeX RIS

Jimit Majmudar, Stephen M. Krone, Bert O. Baumgaertner, Rebecca C. Tyson. 2016-10-31. Voter Models and External Influence. https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.04160

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