It remains a myth how Enrico Fermi estimated the power of the first successful atomic bomb test from the shockwaves that ensued. Shockwaves are no strangers nowadays as jets often show off their super-sonic speed by blasting shockwaves in the face of cheering crowds at the moment of breaking the sound barrier. Now, shockwaves have been observed in the non-physical world by Manrique et al., specifically the online communities featuring anti-X sentiments and extremism, with frequencies of the latter and potential impacts of the former.

This study is based on microscopic considerations of online verses of heterogenous individuals and how communities can form and break with time via “fusion” and “fission” events. The authors show that such emergent behaviors, i.e., self-organized aggregates despite moderator pressure, can be modeled via first-principles dynamic theories that result in shockwave and turbulence solutions.

The model yields shockingly good agreements with online communities’ data across all major platforms including Facebook, VKontakte, Gab, and Telegram. It demonstrates how the behaviors of complex systems can arise from seemingly simple pairwise interactions. Furthermore, the model provides guidance on ways of intervention and prevention. For example, one surprising observation is that shockwaves can be mitigated by an increased influx of new heterogeneous individuals, i.e., growing out of the problem. Another way would be through the modulation of collective chemistries.

An interesting connection is now established between virtual online communities and physical fluidic dynamics, with deep implications on our understanding of next-generation ecosystems and new realms of physics research.

The article is a wonderful read owing to its methodology of physics and mathematics, its general interest to the broad community, and its social impact at large. Its first-principles-based approach is in sharp contrast with widespread uses of machine learning to solve complex problems.

The article can be accessed at: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.237401