MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONSENSUS MODEL ON A BARABÁSI–ALBERT NETWORK

Abstract

A Consensus Model according to Deffuant on a directed Barabási–Albert network was simulated. Agents have opinions on different subjects. A multi-component subject vector was used. The opinions are discrete. The analysis concerns distribution and clusters of agents which are in agreement with the opinions of the subjects. Remarkable results shown that there mostly exists no absolute consensus. It depends on the ratio of number of agents to the number of subjects, whether the communication ends in a consensus or a pluralism. Mostly a second robust cluster remains, in its size depending on the number of subjects. Two agents agree either in (nearly) all or (nearly) no subject. The operative parameter of the consensus-formating-process is the tolerance in change of views of the group-members.