Mathematicians Analyze Social Divisions Using Cell Phone Data

Differences divide us. Human society fractures along lines defined by politics, religion, ethnicity, and perhaps most fundamentally, language. Although these differences contribute to the great variety of human lives, the partitions they create can lead to conflict and strife, impeding efforts toward social justice and economic development. David Meyer, professor of mathematics at the University of California, San Diego, has been developing new ways of understanding how characteristics like ethnicity and religion coincide to define communities and ultimately influence our actions. "I've been thinking about mathematical aspects of political conflict for a couple of years," Meyer said. "Civil war results from this. Understanding how civil wars spread relies on understanding social divisions." Meyer's group of research scientists, postdocs and students in mathematics and political science has developed a new way to characterize the relationships among communities defined by different characteristics such as language or religion.