Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026
13:40
Combining Computer Game-Based Behavioural Experiments With High-Density EEG and Infrared Gaze Tracking
Published on: December 16, 2010
Temporal oscillations and phase transitions in the evolutionary minority game
1The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
Summary
Adaptive agents in minority-seeking societies exhibit dynamic behavior, not a stable state. Temporal oscillations in winning probabilities, influenced by the prize-to-fine ratio (R), drive transitions between self-segregation and clustering.
Area of Science:
- Computational social science
- Agent-based modeling
- Complex systems
Background:
- Societies of adaptive agents seeking minority status are actively researched.
- Previous studies indicated a phase transition in agent behavior based on the prize-to-fine ratio (R).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dynamic behavior of adaptive agent systems.
- To determine if these systems reach a stationary distribution.
- To explain the observed phase transition from self-segregation to clustering.
Main Methods:
- Agent-based simulation
- Analysis of winning probabilities over time
- Examination of the influence of the prize-to-fine ratio (R)
Main Results:
- Adaptive agent systems do not achieve a true stationary distribution.
- Agent winning probabilities exhibit temporal oscillations.
- The amplitude and frequency of oscillations are dependent on the prize-to-fine ratio (R).
Conclusions:
- Temporal oscillations are a key characteristic of these adaptive agent systems.
- These oscillations explain the transition from self-segregation to clustering when R < 1.
Related Concept Videos
01:07Speciation Rates
Speciation can proceed at markedly different rates, and evolutionary biologists commonly describe these differences through the models of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. Both patterns explain how new species arise, but they differ in the tempo and continuity of evolutionary change. In both cases, evolutionary change arises from heritable variation within populations, with natural selection often shaping traits that improve survival and reproduction under specific environmental conditions.
01:38Limits to Natural Selection
Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.For one, natural selection can only act upon existing genetic variation. Hypothetically, redtusks may enhance elephant survival by deterring ivory-seeking poachers. However, if there are no gene variants—or alleles—for redtusks, natural selection cannot increase the prevalence of...
02:31Phase Transitions
Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to occupy...
01:04Oscillations about an Equilibrium Position
Stability is an important concept in oscillation. If an equilibrium point is stable, a slight disturbance of an object that is initially at the stable equilibrium point will cause the object to oscillate around that point. For an unstable equilibrium point, if the object is disturbed slightly, it will not return to the equilibrium point. There are three conditions for equilibrium points—stable, unstable, and half-stable. A half-stable equilibrium point is also unstable, but is named so because...
01:21Entropy Changes Accompanying Specific Processes
Entropy, a measure of disorder in a system, changes during phase transitions like freezing or boiling. At the transition temperature Ttrs, where two phases are in equilibrium, the phase transition is a reversible process. The entropy change can be calculated from a substance's enthalpy of transition using the equation ΔStrs = ΔtrsH /Ttrs.When a perfect gas expands isothermally from one volume to another, entropy increases logarithmically with volume. Conversely, isothermal compression results...
01:21Phase Transitions
A phase transition is the process in which a substance changes from one state of matter to another, like from a solid to a liquid, liquid to gas, or vice versa, at a specific temperature and under given pressure conditions. This change is spontaneous and is affected by alterations in temperature and pressure. These parameters impact the strength of the forces between molecules (intermolecular forces) in the substance.During a phase transition, both the initial and final phases of the substance...