Dietrich Stauffer nsIn human physics, Dietrich Stauffer (1943-) is a German theoretical physicist noted for his application of statistical physics and in particular computational physics in the areas of econophysics (since 1998) and sociophysics (since 2000).

Econophysics and sociophysics motivation
In regards to what stimulated Stauffer, a statistical physicist, into the study of econophysics and sociophysics problems, the seeds began to plant when as a graduate student he became interested in biological applications of condensed-matter physics; and in 1985 began to simulate some biologically models.

In circa 1995, Stauffer read American physicist Eugene Stanley's papers on econophysics, and when in 1997 Rama Cont and Jean-Philippe Bouchard applied percolation theory (Stauffer’s specialty) to stock market fluctuations, he jumped onto that subject. Polish physicist Kasia Sznajd's preprint (with her father) on opinion dynamics made Stauffer interested in this model to the effect that he would like to simulate war and peace. [6]

His 1999 book Evolution, Money, War and Computers , co-written with S. Moss de Oliveira and P.M.C. de Oliveira, outlines the non-traditional applications (evolution, money, and war, etc.) of computational statistical physics. [1]

In 2003, Stauffer was already being cited, biographically, as being an unconventional physicist having done work in the areas of "socio-physics" and "econophysics". (Ѻ)

In 2003, international conference Unconventional Applications of Statistical Physics: Physics of Random Networks, Econophysics, and Models of Biophysics and Sociophysics was organized in honor of the 60th birthday of Stauffer. [2]

In 2006, Stauffer, in his Biology, Sociology, Geology by Computation Physicists, co-authored with Suzana Maria Moss de Oliveira, Paulo Murilo Castro de Oliveira, and Jorge Simoes de Sa Martins, begins with the following appeasement to the anti-reductionist and religious crowds: [3]

“In biology, people are accustomed to think that from simple animals up to dinosaurs, all species originated by Darwinian evolution and selection of the fittest. Once the principle is applied to human beings, some dislike it and rely instead on creationism. Similarly for sociophysics, not much emotion is aroused if ants are simulated by mathematically defined probabilities. But to apply the same type of modelling to humans is disliked by some: We are not just atoms. Of course we are not; neither is the planet earth a point mass. Nevertheless, for Kepler’s law of how the earth rotates around our sun, a point mass is a good approximation.”

Then devote an end chapter to the social science, wherein they start their history section with mention of the chemical aphorisms of Empedocles, followed by mention how in the early 20th century Italian theoretical physicist Ettore Majorana suggested to apply quantum statistical physics to social sciences, along with mentions of Thomas Schelling, Serge Galam, Wolfgang Weidlich, and Jurgen Mimkes.

In his 2008 lecture “The Schelling Model of Urban Segregation”, Stauffer gives a bit of history of sociophysics, comments on how German historian Imanuel Geiss demanded that historians work with physics like laws or “with laws like in physics.” [5]

Stauffer’s 2011 article “Statistical Physics for Humanities: A Tutorial” gives a bit of historical overview, contains sections such as “humans are neither spins nor atoms”, schelling model for social segregation”, on the work of Thomas Schelling, extols on an Ising model of the physics of human behavior or choice, and concludes with a suggested outline to use Fortran to build computer simulations for a type of human statistical physics. [4]

Education
From 1961 to 1967, Stauffer completed his BS and MS in physics in Munich; in 1970 he completed his PhD at Munich Technical University; from 1971 to 1975, he was a post-doctorial researcher in Munich (Germany), Urbana (IL), Atlanta (GA), and Saarbrucken (Germany); in 1975 he obtained habilitation (non-tenured associate professor) at Saar State University, under a professor Binder.

In 1977, Stauffer became an associate professor of theoretical physics at the University of Cologne, Germany, where his focus has been on computer simulations (Monte Carlo), retiring from that position in 2008. Stauffer began researching biophysics in 1986, ageing in 1993, econophysics since 1998, sociophysics since 2000, and linguistics since 2004.

References
1. Chakrabarti, B.K. (2003). Unconventional Applications of Statistical Physics: Physics of Random Networks, Econophysics, and Models of Biophysics and Sociophysics (Papers from an international conference on "Unconventional Applications of Statistical Physics," organized in honor of the 60th birthday of Dietrich Stauffer (abs), Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India. March 20-22. Stockholm: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
2. Stauffer, Dietrich, Oliveira, Suzana. (1999). Evolution, Money, War, and Computers: Non-traditional Applications of Computational Statistical Physics.
3. (a) Stauffer, Dietrich, Oliveira, Moss de Suzana, de Oliveira, P.M.C., and Sa Martins, J.S. (2006). Biology, Sociology, Geology by Computation Physicists ( § 6: Social Sciences, pgs. 179-). Elsevier.
(b) Ghosh, Asim and Chakrabarti, Anindya S. (2013). “Econophysics and Sociophysics: Problems and Prospects”, in: Econophysics and Agent-Based Models (editors: Frédéric Abergel, Hideaki Aoyama, Bikas K Chakrabarti, Anirban Chakraborti, Asim Ghosh) (§:15:287-; quote, pg. 295). Springer.
4. Stauffer, Dietrich. (2011). “Statistical Physics for Humanities: A Tutorial” (abs), Arxiv.org, Sep 12.
5. (a) Stauffer, Dietrich. (2008). “The Shelling Model of Urban Segregation”, Conference, Complex Systems Society, 4th European Phd Complexity School, Oct 15.
(b) Imanuel Geiss – Wikipedia.
6. Email communication to Libb Thims (09 Oct 2011).

External links
● Dietrich Stauffer (GermanEnglish) – Wikipedia.
Stauffer, Dietrich – WorldCat Identities.
Dietrich Stauffer (faculty) - theoretical physics department, University of Cologne.
Dietrich Stauffer – JASSS.soc.surrey.ac.uk.

TDics icon ns