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# Minorities in a model for opinion formation

## I INTRODUCTION

The formation of public opinion is a complex phenomenon that affects almost all aspects of human life. In a population where each agent has an independent opinion, a typical situation when a common decision needs to be taken involves the exchange of information and points of view. As a result of these exchanges, people gradually change their opinions and a collective state emerges. In some cases, a single position is held by the population in the end. In others, a state of coexistence between diverging opinions may result and persist. In some regards, the emergence of a collective state is reminiscent of many other synchronization effects in populations with global coupling in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology mikhailov ; kuramoto ; winfree . The starting point of the present work is a model for opinion formation introduced by Weisbuch and coworkers weisbuch . The state of the agents is a continuous variable, representing an opinion, that evolves according to rules tending to homogenize the system. The conditions to reach consensus in this model were analyzed in previous works weisbuch ; stone , but several interesting properties were not studied. In particular, we analyze the transient state during which the formation of the collective opinion takes place, as well as the relevance of dynamical time scales in the formation of minorities. As an alternative to continuous opinions, discrete opinions have also been studied by Weisbuch and coworkers weisbuch , and by ourselves in a previous work laguna .

Let us consider a population of $`N`$ agents, each of them characterized by a continuous state variable, the “opinion,” $`x[0,1]`$. Agents interact and update their opinions as a result of mutual influence in the following manner. At each time step $`t`$, two randomly chosen agents meet. If the difference between their opinions is smaller than a threshold, $`|x(t)x^{}(t)|<u`$, both change their opinions according to the rule:

$`x(t+1)`$ $`=`$ $`x(t)+\mu [x^{}(t)x(t)],`$ (1)
$`x^{}(t+1)`$ $`=`$ $`x^{}(t)+\mu [x(t)x^{}(t)],`$ (2)
where $`x`$ and $`x^{}`$ are the agents’ opinions and $`0<\mu <1`$ is a convergence parameter weisbuch . That is, if the two opinions are already sufficiently close, they approach even more. On the contrary, if the two opinions are not close enough, the agents keep their opinions unchanged. The convergence parameter $`\mu `$ controls the approach of the two differing opinions. The threshold $`u`$ is taken as constant in time and uniform across the whole population. Weisbuch and coworkers have shown that, for large threshold values ($`u>0.3`$), consensus is achieved in the system, whereas for lower values of $`u`$ several opinions persist, the number of which follows a general functional dependence of the form $`[1/2u]`$ on the threshold, where $`[x]`$ indicates the integer part of $`x`$. The role of $`\mu `$, they observe, is only that of controlling the speed of convergence towards the stationary state. Below, we explore a further role of this parameter.

The final product of the process is a set of clusters of opinion, each one of them consisting of a subpopulation of agents with identical opinions. This clusterization process is gradual and in principle achieved at infinitely long times, due to the continuous character of the opinion variable and the exponential approach consequence of Eqs. (1) and (2). Nevertheless, the formation of the final clusters is evident at finite times, because the distance between clusters is bounded from below by the threshold $`u`$. It is then possible to define a criterion for the formation of clusters as follows: two agents belong to the same cluster of opinions if the difference between them is less than certain finite value $`u_0`$, smaller than $`u`$. A criterion like this is also sensible from a realistic point of view, since it would be unreasonable to maintain that two opinions could differ in an arbitrarily small quantity. In the results shown in the present paper, we fix $`u_0=0.001`$. This value of $`u_0`$ limits the number of effective opinions to one thousand, which is large enough for the systems with $`N=10^3`$ to $`5\times 10^5`$ used in our simulations.

The formation of the clusters, with the criterion given above, is complete at a time $`t_f`$ proportional to $`N`$. The simulation is stopped when no more activity is observed in the clusterization process. The final state consists of a number of “major” clusters and a number of “minorities,” defined as clusters with less than 10% of the population. As will be discussed below, the major clusters are determined by the value of the threshold. These are the clusters analyzed by Weisbuch and coworkers weisbuch . The minorities—which, we stress, are not an artifact of the discretization criterion imposed on the opinion space—are a byproduct of the dynamics, determined by the parameter $`\mu `$, through the dependence of the final state on the initial condition and on the transient steps.

## II NUMERICAL RESULTS

We analyze the dynamical behavior of the system starting from a random uniform distribution of opinions in the interval $`[0,1]`$. We begin with a value of the threshold large enough to induce the formation of a single major cluster. As time progresses, the region in opinion space occupied by the system shrinks, as shown in the time charts of Ref. weisbuch . Those plots, however, do not show the number of agents with the same value of opinion (the population of the clusters), which gives additional information about the clusterization process. To illustrate this feature of the evolution process, we plot in Fig. 1 the distribution of opinions as a function of time for a system with $`N=5\times 10^5`$, $`u=0.35`$ and $`\mu =0.001`$. We have chosen this very small value of the convergence parameter to allow for access to the very initial steps of clusterization. In the figure, a density plot shows with darker colors the regions with more populated clusters.

In the inset of Fig. 1 we show the initial stage of the clusterization process. It can be seen that clusterization proceeds very fast to the formation of two main branches of opinion by the merging of smaller clusters, that appear as horizontal streaks in the inset. After this, the two main branches merge into the single final cluster, as shown in the main plot of Fig. 1.

The final state can be characterized by the number of clusters of opinion. For $`u>0.3`$ only one cluster is observed, whereas for lower values of $`u`$ several clusters persist, as studied in Ref. weisbuch . This situation takes place despite the fact that an opinion can propagate through the whole population. We have found that the final state depends, further, on the convergence speed through the parameter $`\mu `$. In Fig. 2 we plot the distribution of opinions as a function of the threshold for three typical values of $`\mu `$. We distinguish major clusters, with a population larger than $`10\%`$ of the total (full dots), from minor clusters (empty dots). While the structure of the major clusters is the same in all the cases, the density of minor clusters near the extreme opinions $`0`$ and $`1`$ is higher for the larger values of $`\mu `$.

Numerical simulations performed over all the range of thresholds show that the origin of the minor clusters is strongly dependent on the speed of the dynamics through the parameter $`\mu `$. For a given value of $`u`$, agents lying within a “basin of attraction” of radius $`u`$ from the budding clusters at an early stage of the evolution are almost certainly attracted to them, with a speed depending on $`\mu `$. In Fig. 2 we show the basin of attraction of the central opinion in the range of $`u`$ where a single cluster is obtained; the basins corresponding to states with more clusters are omitted to avoid clutter. Agents lying outside this basins cannot interact directly with the agents forming the clusters—since their opinions differ by more than $`u`$. However, agents with intermediate opinions may serve as bridges during the transient evolution, allowing agents from outside the basins to enter them. The availability of these intermediate agents strongly depends on $`\mu `$, since they ultimately tend to approach the clusters at a speed given by $`\mu `$. As a consequence the number of agents that remain frozen outside the basins increases with $`\mu `$. These agents, nevertheless, can interact with each other, and finally form a cluster by themselves, albeit a minor cluster, not a major one. These are the agents that appear outside the basins, in Fig. 2, for $`\mu =0.1`$ and $`0.5`$. The bottom panel of Fig. 2, corresponding to the slowest dynamics at $`\mu =0.01`$, does not exhibit these extreme opinions: the transient evolution has been slow enough to allow all of them to be incorporated into the central clusters.

The population of the minor clusters can be better appreciated in Fig. 3, where the results of 2000 independent realizations are averaged, for a fixed value of $`u=0.35`$ (one major cluster). When the convergence parameter is large (Fig. 3, top), the lateral clusters are, indeed, much bigger than the corresponding ones in the bottom plot, where the dynamics is slow and only a few agents remain outside the major cluster at the central opinion. It is evident, then, that the role of the parameter $`\mu `$ goes beyond than that of a speed of convergence parameter. It is able to modify the equilibrium state of the system.

The minorities located near the central opinion behave differently from those that, like the ones shown in Fig. 3, exist near the extremes. We can see in Fig. 2 that around $`u=0.2`$ there is a number of minorities that persist even for very low values of $`\mu `$ (refer to the empty dots near $`x=0.5`$ at $`u0.2`$). These clusters lie outside the basins of the two clusters that attract most of the population, so they are truly stationary. The intermediate opinions fail to move them to one of the major clusters during the early stages of the evolution because their central position makes them equally probable to move to either side in each individual interaction. Later, when the intermediate agents have disappeared, these minorities persist, and this happens for any value of the convergence parameter. The net effect of this in the phase portrait is that the transition from three clusters to two clusters results shifted towards larger values of $`u`$. The phenomenological rule, found in Ref. weisbuch , that the number of clusters depends on $`u`$ as $`[1/2u]`$, predicts a value of $`u=1/6`$ for this transition, lower than $`u0.21`$, as found in our results (Fig. 2). Certainly, this phenomenon occurs at lower thresholds also, affecting the other transitions as well and in the same direction. Its observation is, however, very difficult when the number of clusters is larger than three.

At lower values of $`u`$, where the stationary phase consists of more than two major clusters, it becomes manifest that the space of opinions is heterogeneous, i.e. the dynamics of an agent with a extremist opinion is different from the one with an intermediate opinion. In Fig. 4 we plot a histogram of opinions for 100 realizations and two values of the threshold, $`u=0.17`$ (three clusters), and $`u=0.05`$ (many clusters). In both cases, extremist clusters are overpopulated. Extreme clusters can be populated by the extremist agents that do not have access to the central clusters because of the small value of the threshold. This gives advantage to the extreme clusters. This feature is not present in other models of opinion space, such as binary models laguna , where there are no privileged opinions in this regard.

## III CONCLUSION

We have analyzed in detail a model of social influence and public opinion formation, previously presented by Weisbuch et al. weisbuch . The model treats opinion as a continuous scalar quantity, a simplification that can be of relevance in the process of decision making of very specific matters. The dynamics of the agents is a mechanism that approaches already nearby opinions, following Axelrod’s axelrod  seminal ideas in the field of dissemination of culture. Our simulations confirm previous results for the model: large thresholds produce consensus in the population, while low thresholds do not, even when the randomness of the initial condition and the interaction mechanism allow, in principle, for the propagation of opinions throughout the whole population. Our new results provide details on the transient clusterization process, on the structure of the stationary phase controlled by the threshold parameter, and on the role of the convergence parameter on the final distribution of opinions. Even though we have not shown it, these results have proved to be very robust against noise of rather high amplitude.

The transient phase towards the clustered state allowed by the threshold shows progressive clusterization of the initial random state, by means of a collapse of the clusters that form in close regions of opinion. The speed of this process is certainly governed by the parameter $`\mu `$ which, besides, determines how many agents are left “frozen” outside the major clusters. If the dynamics proceeds slowly (small $`\mu `$), many agents whose opinions are initially far from what will become the consensus (farther than $`u`$, indeed), can nevertheless, by interacting with intermediate agents, be enabled to join the rest. If, on the other hand, the dynamics is fast, a large number of agents are left outside the consensus and end up forming extremist clusters of opinion.

As a result of this process, the final state of the system consists of a number of major clusters arranged, as a function of $`u`$, in the hierarchical structure shown in Fig. 2. A varying number of minorities, depending on the value of $`\mu `$, may also appear in the spaces between the major clusters in the final state. All clusters of opinion, major and minor, result more populated if they reside near one of the extremes of the opinion space. This is a consequence of the heterogeneity of opinion space in this kind of models, where the agents with extreme opinions are effectively less able to interact with others. For a given threshold $`u`$, agents with opinions in the middle range have in contrast more potential partners and tend to spread in the final state. Even if simplified, it is worthwhile to stress that this happens in many situations of collective decision making in human affairs, where extreme positions tend to remain irreconcilable with the majority.

In summary, despite its simplicity, the continuous opinion model with convergent dynamics displays a richness of features that can shed light over real system of opinion formation.

## IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

M.F.L. thanks the Solid State Group of Centro Atómico Bariloche for the use of computational facilities.


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# Spin order manipulations in nanostructures of II-VI ferromagnetic semiconductors

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Present spintronic research  involves virtually all materials families but ferromagnetic semiconductors are particularly attractive as they combine resources of both semiconductors and ferromagnets. We describe here recent studies of ferromagnetic Cr- and Mn-based II-VI diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) excluding, however, oxides that are subject of another presentation . Properties of III-V DMS are summarized elsewhere ; detail reviews of nitride DMS have also been recently completed .

A good starting point for the description of DMS is the Vonsovskii model, which assumes that the electronic structure consists of extended sp band states and highly localized d-shells of magnetic ions . As depicted in Fig. 1, the positions of the lower and upper Hubbard levels in respect to band edges are universal if the relative positions of the band edges are shifted according to band offsets known from heterostructure studies . This diagram makes it possible to asses the ion charge state and its variations with co-doping by shallow impurities. For a given charge state, the ion spin is determined by Hund’s rule.

## 2 FERROMAGNETISM IN Cr-BASED DMS

Owing to short-range superexchange interactions, the spin-spin coupling is merely antiferromagnetic in II-VI DMS. However, a net ferromagnetic superexchange was predicted for Cr-  and V-based  II-VI DMS, a conclusion independent of assumptions concerning the direction of Jahn-Teller distortion and tight-binding parameter values, as shown in Fig. 2. A ferromagnetic ground state in these systems is expected also from more recent ab initio computations  which suggest, however, that double exchange rather than superexchange is involved.

In the initially studied samples , the Cr concentration was too low to tell the character of spin-spin interactions. However, a more recent work on (Zn,Cr)Te , has lead to the observation ferromagnetism by both direct magnetization measurements and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD). According to MCD results presented in Fig. 3, ferromagnetism persists up to room temperature in a sample containing 20% of Cr. Since no electrical conductance is detected, the ferromagnetic double exchange  does not appear to operate. At the same time, for the presently accepted values of the parameters, the observed magnitude of $`T_\text{C}`$ is too high to be explained within the superexchange scenario but by adjusting parameters within the physically acceptable range, such a scenario becomes plausible. Nonetheless, independently of the microscopic nature of ferromagnetic ordering, the large magnitude of MCD suggests possible applications of this system in photonic devices, such as Faraday optical insulators.

Indications of ferromagnetism below 100 K have also been found in (Zn,Cr)Se, as shown in Fig. 4. The enhanced magnetic response has been assigned to precipitates as the apparent $`T_\text{C}`$ does not scale with the Cr concentration, and is close to $`T_\text{C}`$ of the spinel semiconductor ZnCr2Se4.

## 3 FERROMAGNETISM IN Mn-BASED DILUTED MAGNETIC SEMICONDUCTORS

According to extensive studies of Mn-based II-VI DMS, the intrinsic antiferromagnetic interaction gives rise to a spin-glass freezing at low temperatures . It was predicted that the antiferromagnetic coupling can be overcompensated by ferromagnetic interactions mediated by the valence band holes in various dimensionality systems , as depicted for the 3D case in Fig. 5. This expectation has been confirmed by experimental studies of p-type modulation-doped (Cd,Mn)Te quantum wells  as well as of p-type (Zn,Mn)Te:N , (Zn,Mn)Te:P , and (Be,Mn)Te:N .

On the level of the mean-field and continuous medium approximations, the RKKY approach is equivalent to the Zener model . In terms of the latter, the equilibrium magnetization, and thus $`T_\text{C}`$ is determined by minimizing the Ginzburg-Landau free energy functional $`F[M(r)]`$, where $`M(r)`$ is the local magnetization of the localized spins . This is a rather versatile approach, to which carrier correlation, confinement, $`kp`$, and spin-orbit couplings as well as weak disorder and antiferromagnetic interactions can be introduced in a controlled way. Importantly, by evaluating $`F[M_q]`$ for the carriers, the magnetic stiffness can be determined . As shown in Fig. 6, theoretical calculations , carried out with no adjustable parameters, explain satisfactory the magnitude of $`T_\text{C}`$ in both p-type (Zn,Mn)Te  and (Ga,Mn)As . A question arises how the character of the spin-spin interactions changes if the hole concentration becomes so small that the material is on the insulator side of the metal-to insulator transition (MIT). According to the scaling theory of the Anderson-Mott MIT at distances smaller than the localization radius (which diverges right at the MIT), the states retain a metallic character, so that the Zener/RKKY appears valid . Recent studies of the interaction energy of the nearest neighbor Mn pairs by inelastic neutron scattering in (Zn,Mn)Te:P  corroborate this conjecture. Owing to relatively small magnitudes of the s-d exchange coupling and density of states, the carrier-induced ferromagnetism is expected , and observed only under rather restricted conditions in n-type Mn-based DMS .

According to the above model, $`T_\text{C}`$ is proportional to the density of states for spin excitations, which is independent of energy in the 2D systems. Hence, $`T_\text{C}`$ is expected to do not vary with the carrier density, and to be enhanced over the 3D values at low carrier densities. Experimental results for modulation doped p-type (Cd,Mn)Te quantum wells , presented in Fig. 6, fulfill these expectations, though a careful analysis indicates that disorder-induced band tailing lowers $`T_\text{C}`$ when the Fermi energy approaches the band edge . In 1D systems, in turn, a formation of spin density waves with $`q=2k_F`$ is suggested, a prediction awaiting for an experimental confirmation. A good agreement between experimental and theoretical values of $`T_\text{C}`$ in (Ga,Mn)As, p-(Cd,Mn)Te, and p-(Zn,Mn)Te has triggered the extension of the calculations to other Mn-based III-V, II-VI, and IV systems .

## 4 MAGNETIZATION MANIPULATION

Since magnetic properties of the Mn-based compounds are controlled by the band carriers, the powerful methods developed to change carrier concentration by electric field and light in semiconductor quantum structures can be employed to alter the magnetic ordering. As far as II-VI DMS are concerned, such tuning capabilities were put into the evidence in (Cd,Mn)Te quantum wells , as shown in Fig. 7. Importantly, the magnetization switching is isothermal and reversible. Though not investigated in detail, it is expected that underlying processes are rather fast. Since the background hole concentration is small in Mn-based II-VI quantum wells, the relative change of the Curie temperature is typically larger than in III-V compounds.

## 5 OUTLOOK

The case of ferromagnetism research in Cr-based and Mn-based II-VI DMS indicates the important role of sensible theoretical modelling, provided that it is accompanied by parallel developments of growth modes which can overcome solubility and self-compensation limits as well as prevent the formation of precipitates.

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to thank his co-workers, particularly P. Kacman, P. Kossacki, and M. Sawicki in Warsaw, F. Matsukura and H. Ohno in Sendai, J. Cibert in Grenoble, and A.H. MacDonald in Austin for many years of fruitful collaboration. Author’s research was supported by State Committee for Scientific Research, by AMORE (GRD1-1999-10502) and FENIKS (G5RD-CT-2001- 00535) EC projects, and by Ohno Semiconductor Spintronics ERATO Project of JST.