Dynamics of Ranking Processes in Complex Systems
Name
Blumm-2012-Dynamics of Ranking Processes in Complex Systems.pdf
Size
505.61 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
9ba190da9b269bd34076210cb8c56ab5
Author(s) • • • • • •
Ghoshal, Gourab
Blumm, Nicholas
Forro, Zalan
Schich, Maximilian
Bianconi, Ginestra
Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe
Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo
Date Issued
September 2012
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Blumm, Nicholas et al. “Dynamics of Ranking Processes in Complex Systems.” Physical Review Letters 109.12 (2012). © 2012 American Physical Society
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The world is addicted to ranking: everything, from the reputation of scientists, journals, and universities to purchasing decisions is driven by measured or perceived differences between them. Here, we analyze empirical data capturing real time ranking in a number of systems, helping to identify the universal characteristics of ranking dynamics. We develop a continuum theory that not only predicts the stability of the ranking process, but shows that a noise-induced phase transition is at the heart of the observed differences in ranking regimes. The key parameters of the continuum theory can be explicitly measured from data, allowing us to predict and experimentally document the existence of three phases that govern ranking stability.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.128701