Continuous opinion model in small-world directed networks

In the compromise model of continuous opinions proposed by Deffuant et al., the states of two agents in a network can start to converge if they are neighbors and if their opinions are sufficiently close to each other, below a given threshold of tolerance epsilon. In directed networks, if agent i is a neighbor of agent j, j need not be a neighbor of i. In Watts-Strogatz networks we performed simulations to find the averaged number of final opinions (F) and their distribution as a function of epsilon and of the network structural disorder. In directed networks (F) exhibits a rich structure, being larger than in undirected networks for higher values of epsilon, and smaller for lower values of epsilon. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.