Follow the leader: investigations of coupled diffusion models for group decision processes

Abstract: We model coupled decisions as a stochastic process. Specifically, we consider two particles subject to diffusion. When one of the particles escapes, it influences the other one. As theoretical background, a derivation of the diffusion equation from Ito calculus is resented. The diffusion equation is then solved with boundary conditions suitable for coupled decision making. From this, a probability density for the passage time of the first and second particles is obtained and compared with Monte Carlo simulations.  

Reggie Caginalp has been enrolled in undergraduate courses at the University of Pittsburgh, and has been conducting this research in collaboration with Prof. Brent Doiron.