title: Axelrod's model with surface tension.
abstract: In this work we propose a subtle change in Axelrod's model for the dissemination of culture. The mechanism consists of excluding from the set of potentially interacting neighbors those that would never possibly exchange. Although the alteration proposed does not alter the state space topologically, it yields significant qualitative changes, specifically the emergence of surface tension, driving the system in some cases to metastable states. The transient behavior is considerably richer, and cultural regions become stable leading to the formation of different spatiotemporal patterns. A metastable "glassy" phase emerges between the globalized phase and the disordered, multicultural phase.
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Group, Institute for Computer Science, University of Leipzig, Härtelstraße 16-18, D-04107 Leipzig, Germany and Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 66318, 05314-970, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pace
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 66318, 05314-970, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carmen P C
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Prado
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012919:Social Behavior; D060756:Social Networking; D013500:Surface Tension