https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202430001005
Monte Carlo Study of Agent-Based Blume-Capel Model for Political Depolarization
1 Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modélisation, CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS, UMR 8089 2, Avenue Adolphe Chauvin, 95302 Cergy-Pontoise, France.
2 Department of Physics, Cleveland State University, USA.
3 Levin School of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University, USA.
* e-mail: diep@cyu.fr
** e-mail: m.kaufman@csuohio.edu
*** e-mail: s.kaufman@csuohio.edu
Published online: 8 August 2024
In this paper, using Monte Carlo simulations we show that the Blume-Capel model gives rise to the social depolarization. This model borrowed from statistical physics uses the continuous Ising spin varying from -1 to 1 passing by zero to express the political stance of an individual going from ultra-left (-1) to ultra-right (+1). The particularity of the Blume-Capel model is the existence of a D-term which favors the state of spin zero which is a neutral stance. We consider the political system of the USA where voters affiliate with two political groups: Democrats or Republicans, or are independent. Each group is composed of a large number of interacting members of the same stance. We represent the general political ambiance (or degree of social turmoil) with a temperature T similar to thermal agitation in statistical physics. When three groups interact with each other, their stances can get closer or further from each other, depending on the nature of their inter-group interactions. We study the dynamics of such variations as functions of the value of the D-term of each group. We show that the polarization decreases with incresasing D. We outline the important role of T in these dynamics. These MC results are in excellent agreement with the mean-field treatment of the same model.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
