Continuous opinion model in small world directed networks

Abstract

In the compromise model of continuous opinions proposed by Deffuant et al, the states of two agents in a network can start to converge if they are neighbors and if their opinions are sufficiently close to each other, below a given threshold of tolerance $\epsilon$. In directed networks, if agent i is a neighbor of agent j, j need not be a neighbor of i. In Watts-Strogatz networks we performed simulations to find the averaged number of final opinions $<F>$ and their distribution as a function of $\epsilon$ and of the network structural disorder. In directed networks $<F>$ exhibits a rich structure, being larger than in undirected networks for higher values of $\epsilon$, and smaller for lower values of $\epsilon$.