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Is There a Physics of Society? - Agenda

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Is There a Physics of Society? January 10-12, 2008, Santa Fe NM

Organizers: Michelle Girvan (University of Maryland) and Aaron Clauset (Santa Fe Institute)


Agenda: Thursday Friday Saturday

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

7:00pm - 9:00pm Welcome reception (Hotel Santa Fe)


Thursday, January 10, 2008

8:30am Welcome, by Aaron Clauset
8:40 - 9:15 Introductory remarks by Geoffrey West (homepage)


Session One, led by Michael Fisher (homepage)
9:20 - 10:00 Mark Buchanan (abstract, slides, homepage)
Prospects for "social physics"
10:12 - 10:56 D. Eric Smith (abstract, slides, homepage)
Good social science as good physics?
11:03 - 11:17 Break
11:17 - 11:54 Rob Axtell (abstract, slides, homepage)
Interacting Particles vs. Interacting Agents: Where is the Cut-off?
12:05 - 12:45 Discussion
12:45 - 1:40 Lunch
1:40 A few comments by Aaron


Session Two, led by Matthew Salganik (homepage)
1:43 - 2:25 John M. Roberts Jr. (abstract, slides, homepage)
Examining the modern history of interaction between social science and physics
2:35 - 3:18 Lars-Erik Cederman (abstract, slides, homepage)
Toward a non-equilibrium approach to political violence
3:34 - 3:45 Break
3:45 - 4:29 Frank Schweitzer (abstract, slides, homepage)
Enhancing social interaction: preferences, similarities, and trust
4:37 - 5:15 Discussion
7:00pm Dinner (Coyote Cafe)


Friday, January 11, 2008

8:55am - 9:00 Introductory remarks by Michelle


Session Three, led by Cosma Shalizi (homepage)
9:00 - 9:44 Luis Bettencourt (abstract, slides, homepage)
Elements of a coarse-grained quantitative theory of Society: Physics perhaps, but like you’ve never seen it before
9:54 - 10:34 David Gibson (abstract, slides, homepage)
Events and Their Aftermath
10:50 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:41 Matthew Salganik (abstract, slides, homepage)
The puzzling nature of success in cultural markets
12:00 - 12:43 Discussion
12:43 - 1:35 Lunch


Session Four, led by Luis Bettencourt (homepage)
1:35 - 2:20 Dirk Brockmann (abstract, slides, homepage)
New Perspectives on Global Human Traffic: Scaling Laws, Emergent Geographic Communities, Geocaching and Trackable Items
2:24 - 3:00 Michael Gastner (abstract, slides, homepage)
The Price of Anarchy in Transportation Networks
3:10 - 3:37 Break
3:37 - 4:19 Matthew O. Jackson (abstract, slides, homepage)
An Economic Model of Friendships: Understanding the Roles of Choice and Chance in Social Network Formation
4:31 - 5:10pm Discussion


Saturday, January 12, 2008

8:55am - 9:00 Introductory remarks by Aaron


Session Five, led by Rob Axtell (homepage)
9:00 - 9:41 Dirk Helbing (abstract, slides, homepage)
Modeling and Simulating Social Systems from the Bottom Up
9:52 - 10:32 Mark Handcock (abstract, slides, homepage)
A Longitudinal Model of Network Formation: Heider's theory of Balance vs Simmel's triadic formation
10:41 - 11:00 Break
11:01 - 11:42 Petter Holme (abstract, slides, homepage)
Simple models of teens, diplomats, religious cults and more
11:51 - 12:10 Session discussion
12:10 - 12:36 Discussion of persistent theme, with Michelle
12:36 - 1:37 Lunch


Session Six, led by Larry Bloom (homepage)
1:37 - 2:18 Cosma Shalizi (abstract, slides, homepage)
Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Econophysics?
2:28 - 3:10 Doyne Farmer (abstract, slides, homepage)
Structure and strategy in financial markets: What can we understand without making detailed models of human behavior?
3:20 - 3:34 Break
3:35 - 4:15 Carter Butts (abstract, slides, homepage)
Is There a Viable Social Physics? Yes, No, and In Part
4:25 - 5:00 More discussion of big themes, prospects of social physics, problems with journals
5:00pm Concluding remarks by Michelle