Intriguing effects of underlying star topology in Schelling's model with blocks

Abstract

We explore the intriguing effects of underlying star topological structure in the framework of Schelling's segregation model with blocks. The significant consequences exerted by the star topology are both theoretically analysed and numerically simulated with and without introducing a fraction of altruistic agents, respectively. The collective utility of the model with pure egoists alone can be optimized and the optimum stationary state is achieved with the underlying star topology of blocks. More surprisingly, once a proportion of altruists are introduced, the average utility gradually decreases as altruists' fraction increases. This presents a sharp contrast to the results in Schelling's model with lattice topology of blocks. Furthermore, an adding-link mechanism is introduced to bridge the gap between the lattice and the star topologies, and extend our analysis to more general scenarios. A novel scaling law of the average utility function are found for star topology of blocks.

arXiv comment7 pages, accepted by PRE

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• The statistical physics of Cities
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• Phase diagram of a Schelling segregation model
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