Statistical physics has proven to be a fruitful framework to describe phenomena outside the realm of traditional physics. Recent years have witnessed an attempt by physicists to study collective phenomena emerging from the interactions of individuals as elementary units in social structures. A wide list of topics are reviewed ranging from opinion and cultural and language dynamics to crowd behavior, hierarchy formation, human dynamics, and social spreading. The connections between these problems and other, more traditional, topics of statistical physics are highlighted. Comparison of model results with empirical data from social systems are also emphasized.
%0 Journal Article
%1 Castellano2009
%A Castellano, Claudio
%A Fortunato, Santo
%A Loreto, Vittorio
%D 2009
%I American Physical Society
%J Rev. Mod. Phys.
%K networks physics review social-networks sociology statistical-physics
%N 2
%P 591--646
%R 10.1103/RevModPhys.81.591
%T Statistical physics of social dynamics
%V 81
%X Statistical physics has proven to be a fruitful framework to describe phenomena outside the realm of traditional physics. Recent years have witnessed an attempt by physicists to study collective phenomena emerging from the interactions of individuals as elementary units in social structures. A wide list of topics are reviewed ranging from opinion and cultural and language dynamics to crowd behavior, hierarchy formation, human dynamics, and social spreading. The connections between these problems and other, more traditional, topics of statistical physics are highlighted. Comparison of model results with empirical data from social systems are also emphasized.
@article{Castellano2009,
abstract = {Statistical physics has proven to be a fruitful framework to describe phenomena outside the realm of traditional physics. Recent years have witnessed an attempt by physicists to study collective phenomena emerging from the interactions of individuals as elementary units in social structures. A wide list of topics are reviewed ranging from opinion and cultural and language dynamics to crowd behavior, hierarchy formation, human dynamics, and social spreading. The connections between these problems and other, more traditional, topics of statistical physics are highlighted. Comparison of model results with empirical data from social systems are also emphasized.},
added-at = {2011-05-16T16:56:52.000+0200},
author = {Castellano, Claudio and Fortunato, Santo and Loreto, Vittorio},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2995c2eee86ba9a0d371c6e46ae11eab0/rincedd},
doi = {10.1103/RevModPhys.81.591},
file = {Castellano2009 - Statistical physics of social dynamics.pdf:Castellano2009 - Statistical physics of social dynamics.pdf:PDF},
groups = {public},
interhash = {c2a989ec9f6184e78b70e033d1a358de},
intrahash = {ebbe8bc2f041737ca12d0d8e4171e672},
journal = {Rev. Mod. Phys.},
keywords = {networks physics review social-networks sociology statistical-physics},
number = 2,
pages = {591--646},
publisher = {American Physical Society},
timestamp = {2011-05-16T16:58:08.000+0200},
title = {Statistical physics of social dynamics},
username = {rincedd},
volume = 81,
year = 2009
}