DIMACS TR: 2003-45
The Voter Model with Confidence Levels
Author: Stephen Hartke
ABSTRACT
The voter model on a finite connected graph $G$ is a stochastic process
where each vertex has an opinion, 0 or 1. As time progresses, each voter's
opinion is influenced by its neighbors. We introduce a modification
of the voter model that changes how quickly a voter will change its opinion
based on its confidence in its opinion. We show that the voter model with
confidence levels always results in a uniform opinion, and we determine the
probability of each outcome (uniform 1 or 0) based on the initial opinions
and the structure of the graph.
Keywords: voter model, interacting particle system
Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 60K35, Secondary 82C20,
82C22
Paper available at ftp://dimacs.rutgers.edu/pub/dimacs/TechnicalReports/TechReports/2003/2003-45.ps.gz
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