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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. E » Volume 61 » Issue 6
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Phys. Rev. E 61, 6987–6992 (2000)

Physics of the rhythmic applause

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Z. Néda and E. Ravasz
Department of Theoretical Physics, Babeş-Bolyai University, strada Kogălniceanu nr.1, RO-3400, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

T. Vicsek
Department of Biological Physics, Eötvös-Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

Y. Brechet
LTPCM-ENSEEG/INPG, Domaine Universitaire de Grenoble, Boîte Postale 75, 38402 Saint Martin d’Heres, Cedex, France

A. L. Barabási
Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556

Received 23 February 2000; published in the issue dated June 2000

See accompanying Physics Focus

We report on a series of measurements aimed to characterize the development and the dynamics of the rhythmic applause in concert halls. Our results demonstrate that while this process shares many characteristics of other systems that are known to synchronize, it also has features that are unexpected and unaccounted for in many other systems. In particular, we find that the mechanism lying at the heart of the synchronization process is the period doubling of the clapping rhythm. The characteristic interplay between synchronized and unsynchronized regimes during the applause is the result of a frustration in the system. All results are understandable in the framework of the Kuramoto model.

© 2000 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.61.6987
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevE.61.6987
PACS:
87.19.-j, 89.90.+n, 05.45.Xt, 05.65.+b
 
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