Patterns of Nonlinear Opinion Formation on Networks

Abstract: When communicating agents form opinions about a set of possible options, agreement and disagreement are both possible outcomes. Depending on the context, either can be desirable or undesirable. We show that for nonlinear opinion dynamics on networks, and a variety of network structures, the spectral properties of the underlying adjacency matrix fully characterize the occurrence of either agreement or disagreement. We further show how the corresponding eigenvector centrality, as well as any symmetry in the network, informs the resulting patterns of opinion formation and agent sensitivity to input that triggers opinion cascades.