Self - organization in the Concert Hall : the Dynamics of Rhythmic Applause

نویسندگان

  • T. Vicsek
  • A. - L. Barabási
چکیده

Applause An audience expresses appreciation for a good performance by the strength and nature of its applause. The initial thunder often turns into synchronized clapping-an event familiar to many who frequent concert halls. Synchronized clapping has a well defined scenario: the initial strong incoherent clapping is followed by a relatively sudden synchronization process, after which everybody claps simultaneously and periodically. This synchronization can disappear and reappear several times during the applause. The phenomenon is a delightful expression of social self-organization, that provides a human scale example of the synchronization processes observed in numerous systems in nature ranging from the synchronized flashing of the southeast Asian fireflies to oscillating chemical reactions [1–3]. Here we investigate the mechanism and the development of synchronized clapping by performing a series of measurements focused on both the collective aspects of the self-organization process as well as the behavior of the individuals in the audience. We recorded several theater and opera performances in Eastern Europe (Romania and Hungary) utilizing a microphone placed at the ceiling of the hall (Fig 1a). Typically, after a few seconds of random clapping a periodic signal develops (a signature of synchronized clapping), clearly visible in Fig. 1a as pronounced pikes in the signal. This transition is also captured by the order parameter (Fig. 1c), which increases as the periodic signal develops, and decreases as it disappears. While synchronization increases the strength of the signal at the moment of the clapping, it leads to a decrease in the average noise intensity in the room (see Fig. 1d). This is rather surprising, since one would expect that the driving force for synchronization is the desire of the audience to express its enthusiasm by increasing the average noise intensity. The origin of this conflict between the average noise and synchronization can be understood by correlating the global signal with the behavior of an individual in the audience. For this we recorded the local sound intensity in the vicinity of a group of individuals (Fig. 1b), unaware of the recording process. In the incoherent phase the local signal is periodic with a short 1

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تاریخ انتشار 2000