Phase transitions in Paradigm models

Abstract

In this letter we propose two general models for paradigm shift, deterministic propagation model (DM) and stochastic propagation model (SM). By defining the order parameter $m$ based on the diversity of ideas, $\Delta$, we study when and how the transition occurs as a cost $C$ in DM or an innovation probability $\alpha$ in SM increases. In addition, we also investigate how the propagation processes affect on the transition nature. From the analytical calculations and numerical simulations $m$ is shown to satisfy the scaling relation $m=1-f(C/N)$ for DM with the number of agents $N$. In contrast, $m$ in SM scales as $m=1-f(\alpha^a N)$.