Erzsébet Ravasz Regan

Home | CVBR | BIDMC | HMS

Synchronization and Rythmic Applause

An audience expresses appreciation for a good performance by the strength and nature of its applause. The thunder of applause at the start often turns quite suddenly into synchronized clapping, and this synchronization can disappear and reappear several times during the applause. The phenomenon is an expression of social self-organization that provides an example on a human scale of the synchronization processes that occur in numerous natural systems, ranging from flashing Asian fireflies to oscillating chemical reactions.

The story:
Publications:
- Z. Néda, E. Ravasz, T. Vicsek, Y. Brechet, and A.-L. Barabási,
  The sound of many hands clapping, Nature, 403, 850 (2000);
- Z. Néda, E. Ravasz, T. Vicsek, Y. Brechet, and A.-L. Barabási,
  Physics of the rhythmic applause
Collaborators:
- Zoltán Néda, Associate Professor
  Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Theoretical Physics, Romania
- Yves Brechet, Professor
  INPG, ENSEEG-LTPCM, Grenoble, France
- Albert-László Barabási, Emil T. Hofman Professor of Physics
  University of Notre Dame, Department of Physics
- Tamás Vicsek, Professor
  Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest, Hungary
Media Coverage:
- Physical Review Focus: Applause Physics, 2000, http://focus.aps.org/story/v5/st27
- ABC News: Great Moments in Science - Paws for Applause, 2003, http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s114463.htm
- Discovery.com News: Synchronized Clapping a Primal Desire? 2000.
- FoxNews: Roar of the crowd shows social organization, 2000.
- South Bend Tribune: Study: U.S. out of sync with European applause, 2000.