This project will assess to what extent the observed social structure in various primate species, including humans, can be described as the result of two competing drives: the first, a dynamical multi-objective optimization based on temporal and cognitive costs; the secondo, a non-equilibrium fission-fusion group dynamic based on the group’s social function. We will further investigate how an eventual optimization mechanism is shaped by the structural requirements on network processes, in particular information spreading and (resistance to) disease spreading within and among social groups. The team was assembled in order to cover the full range of disciplines required by the project: anthropology, non-equilibrium physics, dynamical processes on complex temporal networks, and cognitive science.

Major disciplinary area : Anthropology, cognitive science, non-equilibrium stat mech, complex networks