Sociophysics models inspired by the Ising model

2025/06/30 by Pratik Mullick, Mullick, Pratik, Parongama Sen +1 · 6 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Physics and Astronomy · #Complex Network Analysis Techniques #Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis #Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2506.23837

openalex publication_date 2025/06/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

The Ising model, originally developed for understanding magnetic phase transitions, has become a cornerstone in the study of collective phenomena across diverse disciplines. In this review, we explore how Ising and Ising-like models have been successfully adapted to sociophysical systems, where binary-state agents mimic human decisions or opinions. By focusing on key areas such as opinion dynamics, financial markets, social segregation, game theory, language evolution, and epidemic spreading, we demonstrate how the models describing these phenomena, inspired by the Ising model, capture essential features of collective behavior, including phase transitions, consensus formation, criticality, and metastability. In particular, we emphasize the role of the dynamical rules of evolution in the different models that often converge back to Ising-like universality. We end by outlining the future directions in sociphysics research, highlighting the continued relevance of the Ising model in the analysis of complex social systems.

Citations

• Voter model can accurately predict individual opinions in online populations
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• Social dynamics through kinetic exchange: The BChS model
• Ising Game on Graphs
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• Socioeconomic Interaction and Swings in Business Confidence Indicators
• Analytical results for the Sznajd model of opinion formation
• The Ising Model for Changes in Word Ordering Rule in Natural Language
• Social force model for pedestrian dynamics
• On the critical behavior of the magnetization in high-dimensional Ising models
• Threshold Models of Collective Behavior
• Dynamic models of segregation†
• Monte Carlo sampling methods using Markov chains and their applications
• Crystal Statistics. I. A Two-Dimensional Model with an Order-Disorder Transition

Cited by

• On the relationship between Heider links and Ising spins
• Opinion Dynamics: A Comprehensive Overview
• Analytic expressions for estimation of the critical properties of inhomogeneous Ising models
• Empirical validation of the polarization transition in a double-random field model of elections
• Ising dynamics on multilayer networks with heterogeneous layers
• Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking, Group Decision Making and Beyond 2. Distorted Polarization and Vulnerability

Related

• Coupled Ising models and interdependent discrete choices under social influence in homogeneous populations
• From Spin States to Social Consensus: Ising Approach to Dimer Configurations in Opinion Formation
• Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking, Group Decision Making and Beyond 1. Echo Chambers and Random Polarization
• From Spin States to Socially Integrated Ising Models: Proposed Applications of Graph States, Stabilizer States, Toric States to Opinion Dynamics
• Social applications of two-dimensional Ising models