Sustained oscillations in multi-topic belief dynamics over signed networks

Abstract

We study the dynamics of belief formation on multiple interconnected topics in networks of agents with a shared belief system. We establish sufficient conditions and necessary conditions under which sustained oscillations of beliefs arise on the network in a Hopf bifurcation and characterize the role of the communication graph and the belief system graph in shaping the relative phase and amplitude patterns of the oscillations. Additionally, we distinguish broad classes of graphs that exhibit such oscillations from those that do not.