The well-known Ising model used in statistical physics was adapted to a social dynamics context to simulate the adoption of a technological innovation. The model explicitly combines (a) an individual's perception of the advantages of an innovation and (b) social influence from members of the...

It is shown, in an isotropic universe, that the quantum conformal fluctuations of the metric can play a role analogous to the fictitious field of Thermo Field Dynamics (TFD) of Takahashi and Umezawa, when a massless scalar field minimaly coupled to gravity is regarded as matter content....

We propose a model for the diffusion of several products competing in a common market based on the generalization of the Ising model of statistical mechanics (Potts model). Using an agent based implementation we analyze two problems: (i) a three options case, i.e. to adopt a product A, a product...

A micro-level agent-based model of innovation diffusion was developed that explicitly combines (a) an individual’s perception of the advantages or relative utility derived from adoption, and (b) social influence from members of the individual’s social network. The micro-model was used to...

Every attribute can be expressed in multiple ways. For example, car fuel economy can be expressed as fuel efficiency (“miles per gallon”), fuel cost in dollars, or tons of greenhouse gases emitted. Each expression, or “translation”, highlights a different aspect of the same attribute. We...

Social tipping can accelerate beneficial changes in behaviour in diverse domains from equality and social justice to climate change. Hypothetically, however, group identities might undermine tipping in ways policy makers do not anticipate. To examine this, we implemented an experiment around the...

Utilizing theory and empirical insights from psychology and behavioural economics, this paper examines individuals’ cognitive and motivational barriers to adopting climate change adaptation and mitigation measures that increase consumer welfare. We explore various strategies that take into...