Abstract
Modern human conflicts, such as those ongoing in Iraq, Afghanistan and Colombia, typically involve a large conventional force (e.g., a state army) fighting a relatively small insurgency having a loose internal structure. In this chapter, we adopt this qualitative picture in order to study the dynamics – and in particular the duration – of modern wars involving a loose insurgent force. We generalize a coalescence-fragmentation model from the statistical physics community in order to describe the insurgent population, and find that the resulting behavior is qualitatively different from conventional mass-action approaches. One of our main results is a counterintuitive relationship between an insurgent war’s duration and the asymmetry between the two opposing forces, a prediction which is borne out by empirical observation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology |
| Publisher | Springer Basel |
| Pages | 365-396 |
| Number of pages | 32 |
| Volume | 51 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2010 |
Publication series
| Name | Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology |
|---|---|
| Volume | 51 |
| ISSN (Print) | 2164-3679 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 2164-3725 |
Fingerprint
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
- Engineering(all)
- Computational Mathematics
- Modeling and Simulation
Cite this
Statistical physics and modern human warfare. / Dixon, Alex; Zhao, Zhenyuan; Bohorquez, Juan Camilo; Denney, Russell; Johnson, Neil F.
Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology. Vol. 51 Springer Basel, 2010. p. 365-396 (Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology; Vol. 51).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - Statistical physics and modern human warfare
AU - Dixon, Alex
AU - Zhao, Zhenyuan
AU - Bohorquez, Juan Camilo
AU - Denney, Russell
AU - Johnson, Neil F
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Modern human conflicts, such as those ongoing in Iraq, Afghanistan and Colombia, typically involve a large conventional force (e.g., a state army) fighting a relatively small insurgency having a loose internal structure. In this chapter, we adopt this qualitative picture in order to study the dynamics – and in particular the duration – of modern wars involving a loose insurgent force. We generalize a coalescence-fragmentation model from the statistical physics community in order to describe the insurgent population, and find that the resulting behavior is qualitatively different from conventional mass-action approaches. One of our main results is a counterintuitive relationship between an insurgent war’s duration and the asymmetry between the two opposing forces, a prediction which is borne out by empirical observation.
AB - Modern human conflicts, such as those ongoing in Iraq, Afghanistan and Colombia, typically involve a large conventional force (e.g., a state army) fighting a relatively small insurgency having a loose internal structure. In this chapter, we adopt this qualitative picture in order to study the dynamics – and in particular the duration – of modern wars involving a loose insurgent force. We generalize a coalescence-fragmentation model from the statistical physics community in order to describe the insurgent population, and find that the resulting behavior is qualitatively different from conventional mass-action approaches. One of our main results is a counterintuitive relationship between an insurgent war’s duration and the asymmetry between the two opposing forces, a prediction which is borne out by empirical observation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979173851&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84979173851&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-0-8176-4946-3_14
DO - 10.1007/978-0-8176-4946-3_14
M3 - Chapter
VL - 51
T3 - Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology
SP - 365
EP - 396
BT - Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology
PB - Springer Basel
ER -