Hierarchy in social organization

S. V. Buldyrev; Nikolay Dokholyan; S. Erramilli; M. Hong; J. Y. Kim; G. Malescio; H. E. Stanley

doi:10.1016/j.physa.2003.09.041

Hierarchy in social organization

S. V. Buldyrev, Nikolay Dokholyan, S. Erramilli, M. Hong, J. Y. Kim, G. Malescio, H. E. Stanley

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

We find that area and population distributions of nations follow an inverse power-law, as is known for cities, but with a different exponent. To interpret this result, we develop a growth model based on the geometrical properties of partitioning of the plane. The substantial agreement between the model and the actual nation distributions motivates the hypothesis that the distribution of aggregates of organisms is related to land partitioning. To test this hypothesis we follow the development of bacterial colonies of Escherichia coli, which, compared to humans, are on a completely different level of complexity. We find that the distributions of E. coli colonies follow an inverse power law with exponent similar to that of nations.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	653-659
Number of pages	7
Journal	Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications
Volume	330
Issue number	3-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2003.09.041
State	Published - Dec 15 2003

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Statistics and Probability
Condensed Matter Physics

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10.1016/j.physa.2003.09.041

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title = "Hierarchy in social organization",

abstract = "We find that area and population distributions of nations follow an inverse power-law, as is known for cities, but with a different exponent. To interpret this result, we develop a growth model based on the geometrical properties of partitioning of the plane. The substantial agreement between the model and the actual nation distributions motivates the hypothesis that the distribution of aggregates of organisms is related to land partitioning. To test this hypothesis we follow the development of bacterial colonies of Escherichia coli, which, compared to humans, are on a completely different level of complexity. We find that the distributions of E. coli colonies follow an inverse power law with exponent similar to that of nations.",

author = "Buldyrev, {S. V.} and Nikolay Dokholyan and S. Erramilli and M. Hong and Kim, {J. Y.} and G. Malescio and Stanley, {H. E.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank M. Batty, R.S. Dokholyan, G. Jacobson, H.A. Makse, and S. Redner for interesting and stimulating discussions. We thank NSF for support. N.V.D. is supported by NIH postdoctoral fellowship (GM20251-01). ",

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doi = "10.1016/j.physa.2003.09.041",

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T1 - Hierarchy in social organization

AU - Buldyrev, S. V.

AU - Dokholyan, Nikolay

AU - Erramilli, S.

AU - Hong, M.

AU - Kim, J. Y.

AU - Malescio, G.

AU - Stanley, H. E.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank M. Batty, R.S. Dokholyan, G. Jacobson, H.A. Makse, and S. Redner for interesting and stimulating discussions. We thank NSF for support. N.V.D. is supported by NIH postdoctoral fellowship (GM20251-01).

PY - 2003/12/15

Y1 - 2003/12/15

N2 - We find that area and population distributions of nations follow an inverse power-law, as is known for cities, but with a different exponent. To interpret this result, we develop a growth model based on the geometrical properties of partitioning of the plane. The substantial agreement between the model and the actual nation distributions motivates the hypothesis that the distribution of aggregates of organisms is related to land partitioning. To test this hypothesis we follow the development of bacterial colonies of Escherichia coli, which, compared to humans, are on a completely different level of complexity. We find that the distributions of E. coli colonies follow an inverse power law with exponent similar to that of nations.

AB - We find that area and population distributions of nations follow an inverse power-law, as is known for cities, but with a different exponent. To interpret this result, we develop a growth model based on the geometrical properties of partitioning of the plane. The substantial agreement between the model and the actual nation distributions motivates the hypothesis that the distribution of aggregates of organisms is related to land partitioning. To test this hypothesis we follow the development of bacterial colonies of Escherichia coli, which, compared to humans, are on a completely different level of complexity. We find that the distributions of E. coli colonies follow an inverse power law with exponent similar to that of nations.

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JO - Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications

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IS - 3-4

ER -

Hierarchy in social organization

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