Modeling interactions between political parties and electors

In this paper we extend some recent results on an operatorial approach to the description of alliances between political parties interacting among themselves and with a basin of electors. In particular, we propose and compare three different models, deducing the dynamics of their related {\em decision functions}, i.e. the attitude of each party to form or not an alliance. In the first model the interactions between each party and their electors are considered. We show that these interactions drive the decision functions towards certain asymptotic values depending on the electors only: this is the {\em perfect party}, which behaves following the electors' suggestions. The second model is an extension of the first one in which we include a $rule$ which modifies the status of the electors, and of the decision functions as a consequence, at some specific time step. In the third model we neglect the interactions with the electors while we consider cubic and quartic interactions between the parties and we show that we get (slightly oscillating) asymptotic values for the decision functions, close to their initial values. This is the {\em real party}, which does not listen to the electors. Several explicit situations are considered in details and numerical results are also shown.Comment: To appear in Physica

AN OPERATORIAL DESCRIPTION OF DESERTIFICATION

We propose a simple theoretical model for desertification processes based on three actors (soil, seeds, and plants) on a two-dimensional lattice. Each actor is described by a time dependent fermionic operator, and the dynamics is ruled by a self-adjoint Hamilton-like operator. We show that even taking into account only a few parameters, accounting for external actions on the ecosystem or the response to positive feedbacks, the model provides a plausible description of the desertification process, and can be adapted to different ecological landscapes. We first describe the simplified model in one cell. Then, we define the full model on a two-dimensional region, taking into account additional factors such as nonhomogeneities, the competition for resources between plants, and the spread of seeds due to the action of wind or animals. This allows us to explore the effects of positive feedback on slowing down, stopping, or reversing the desertification process