Role of dimensionality in Axelrod's model for the dissemination of culture

Abstract

We analyze a model of social interaction in one- and two-dimensional lattices for a moderate number of features. We introduce an order parameter as a function of the overlap between neighboring sites. In a one-dimensional chain, we observe that the dynamics is consistent with a second-order transition, where the order parameter changes continuously and the average domain diverges at the transition point. However, in a two-dimensional lattice the order parameter is discontinuous at the transition point characteristic of a first-order transition between an ordered and a disordered state.