1,721,013 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Mathematical Theory of Social Conformity II: Geometric Pinning, Curvature–Induced Quenching, and Curvature–Targeted Control in Anisotropic Logistic Diffusion
We advance a mathematical framework for collective conviction by deriving a continuum theory from the network-based model introduced by us recently. The resulting equation governs the evolution of belief through a degenerate anisotropic logistic–diffusion process, where diffusion slows as conviction saturates. In one spatial dimension, we prove global well-posedness, demonstrate spectral front pinning that arrests the spread of influence at finite depth, and construct explicit traveling-wave solutions. In two dimensions, we uncover a geometric mechanism of curvature–induced quenching, where belief propagation halts along regions of low effective mobility and curvature. Building on this insight, we formulate a variational principle for optimal control under resource constraints. The derived feedback law prescribes how to spatially allocate repression effort to maximize inhibition of front motion, concentrating resources along high-curvature, low-mobility arcs. Numerical simulations validate the theory, illustrating how localized suppression dramatically reduces transverse spread without affecting fast axes. These results bridge analytical modeling with societal phenomena such as protest diffusion, misinformation spread, and institutional resistance, offering a principled foundation for selective intervention policies in structured populations
Impersonal Methods of Decision Making Under Uncertainty: Social Conformity, Market Economy, and Authoritarianism
Memories of the Future. Predictable and Unpredictable Information in Fractional Flipping a Biased Coin
Some uncertainty about flipping a biased coin can be resolved from the sequence of coin sides shown already. We report the exact amounts of predictable and unpredictable information in flipping a biased coin. Fractional coin flipping does not reflect any physical process, being defined as a binomial power series of the transition matrix for “integer” flipping. Due to strong coupling between the tossing outcomes at different times, the side repeating probabilities assumed to be independent for “integer” flipping get entangled with one another for fractional flipping. The predictable and unpredictable information components vary smoothly with the fractional order parameter. The destructive interference between two incompatible hypotheses about the flipping outcome culminates in a fair coin, which stays fair also for fractional flipping
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