Dynamics of two-group conflicts: A statistical physics model

We propose a “social physics” model for two-group conflict. We consider two disputing groups. Each individual i in each of the two groups has a preference si regarding the way in which the conflict should be resolved. The individual preferences span a range between +M (prone to protracted conflict) and −M (prone to settle the conflict). The noise in this system is quantified by a “social temperature”. Individuals interact within their group and with individuals of the other group. A pair of individuals (i,j) within a group contributes -si∗sj to the energy. The inter-group energy of individual i is taken to be proportional to the product between si and the mean value of the preferences from the other group's members. We consider an equivalent-neighbor Renyi-Erdos network where everyone interacts with everyone. We present some examples of conflicts that may be described with this model.