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Published on: August 5, 2016
A physical analogue of the Schelling model
1Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA. dejan@ias.edu
Abstract:
We present a mathematical link between Schelling's socio-economic model of segregation and the physics of clustering. We replace the economic concept of "utility" by the physics concept of a particle's internal energy. As a result cluster dynamics is driven by the "surface tension" force. The resultant segregated areas can be very large and can behave like spherical "liquid" droplets or as a collection of static clusters in "frozen" form. This model will hopefully provide a useful framework for studying many spatial economic phenomena that involve individuals making location choices as a function of the characteristics and choices of their neighbors.
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