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Applied Mathematics and Computation (Rinaldi, 1998)
Applied Mathematics and Computation (Rinaldi, 1998)
Centro Teoria dei Sistemi, CNR, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 34/5, 20133 Milan, Italy
Abstract
This paper proposes a minimal model composed of two ordinary dierential equations to describe the dynamics of love between two individuals. The equations take into
account three mechanisms of love growth and decay: the pleasure of being loved (return), the reaction to the partner's appeal (instinct), and the forgetting processes (oblivion). Under suitable assumptions on the behavior of the individuals, the model turns out
to be a positive linear system enjoying, as such, a number of remarkable properties,
which are in agreement with common wisdom on the argument. These properties are
used to explore the consequences that individual behavior can have on the community
structure. The main result along this line is that individual appeal is the driving force
that creates order in the community. Possible extensions of this theory of linear love dynamics are briey discussed. 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Love dynamics; Linear systems; Positive systems; Population structures; Frobenius
theorem
1. Introduction
Ever since Newton introduced dierential calculus, dynamic phenomena in
physics, chemistry, economics and all other sciences have been extensively studied by means of dierential equations. Surprisingly, one of the most important
problems concerning our lives, namely the dynamics of love between two persons, has not yet been tackled in this way. The only exception is a one page paper in which Strogatz [1] describes how the classical topic of harmonic
oscillations can be taught to capture the attention of students. He suggests a
consideration of ``a topic that is already on the minds of many college students:
E-mail: rinaldi@elet.polimi.it.
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the time evolution of a love aair between two people''. The model proposed
by Strogatz (discussed also in [2,3]) is denitely unrealistic because it does
not take into account the appeal of the two individuals. Thus Strogatz's model,
for example, does not explain why two persons who are initially completely indierent to each other can develop a love aair.
The model proposed in this paper is more realistic, although it is still a minimal model. Three aspects of love dynamics are taken into account: the forgetting process, the pleasure of being loved, and the reaction to the appeal of the
partner. These three factors are assumed to be independent and are modeled by
linear functions. The resulting model is a linear dynamical system, which turns
out to be positive if the appeals of the two individuals are positive. The theory
of positive linear systems [48] can therefore be applied to this model and gives
quite interesting results. Some of them describe the dynamic process of falling
in love, i.e. the transformation of the feelings, starting from complete indierence (when two persons rst meet) and tending toward a plateau. Other results
are concerned with the inuence that appeal and individual behavior have on
the quality of romantic relationships.
Some of these properties are used to identify the consequences that individual appeal and behavior can have on partner choice and on community structure. Although the results are extreme, they explain to some extent facts
observed in real life, such as the rarity of couples composed of individuals with
very uneven appeal.
The conclusion is that the proposed model, besides being a good method of
capturing student attention, is also an elegant tool for deriving general properties of love dynamics from purely conceptual arguments.
2. The model
The model analyzed in this paper is a dynamic system with only two state
variables, one for each member of the couple. Such variables, indicated by x1
and x2 , are a measure of the love of individual 1 and 2 for their respective partners. Positive values of x represent positive feelings, ranging from friendship to
passion, while negative values are associated with antagonism and disdain.
Complete indierence is identied by x 0.
The model is a typical minimal model. Firstly, because love is a complex
mixture of dierent feelings (esteem, friendship, sexual satisfaction, . . .) and
can be hardly captured by a single variable. Secondly, because the tensions
and emotions involved in the social life of a person cannot be encapsulated
in such a simple model. In other words, only the interactions between the
two individuals are modeled, while the rest of the world is kept frozen and does
not participate explicitly in the formation of love dynamics. This means that
the present theory cannot be easily related to the well-known attachment theory
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[911], which has been a main investigation tool in adult romantic relationships
in the last decade (see, for instance [1217]).
Three phenomenon are considered, namely, oblivion, return, and instinct.
The rst gives rise to a loss of interest in the partner, and explains, for example,
the typical decay of xi , which takes place after the death or estrangement of
j; i 6 j. By contrast, the second and the third are sources of interest. Moreover,
the return increases with the love of the partner, while the instinct is sensitive
only to appeal (physical, intellectual, nancial, . . .).
The following simplifying assumptions are also made. First, the appeals
and the personalities of the two individuals do not vary in time: this rules
out again, learning and adaptation processes which are often important over
a long range of time [18,19]. Thus, the model can only be used for short periods of time (months/years), for example in predicting if a love story will be
characterized by regular or stormy feelings. Second, synergism is assumed to
be negligible, i.e. oblivion and return depend only upon one state variable.
Finally, all mechanisms are supposed to be linear. The result is the following
model:
x_ 1 t a1 x1 t b1 x2 t c1 A2 ;
x_ 2 t a2 x2 t b2 x1 t c2 A1 ;
where ai ; bi and ci , as well as the appeals Ai , are constant and positive parameters. The negative term ai xi t, due to oblivion, says that the love of i, in the
absence of the partner j, decays exponentially xi t xi 0 expai t. The
second term bi xj t is the return, and the third ci Aj is the reaction to the partner's appeal. Thus, each person is identied by four parameters: the appeal Ai ,
the forgetting coecient ai and the reactiveness bi and ci to the love and appeal
of the partner. The determination of the behavioral parameters is undoubtedly
a dicult task, although some studies on attachment styles [2022] might suggest ways of identifying categories of individuals with high or low reactiveness
or forgetting coecients. This identication problem will not be considered in
the present paper, which is only centered on the derivation of the properties of
the model.
Model (1) is a linear system which can be written in the standard form
x_ Ax bu with u 1, and
a1 b1
c 1 A2
;
b
A
c A :
b2 a2
2 1
Such a system is positive because the matrix A is a Metzler matrix (nonnegative o-diagonal elements) and the vector b has positive components [5]. Thus,
x0 P 0 implies xt P 0 8t. This means that our assumptions imply that the
two persons will never become antagonists, because they are completely indifferent to each other when they meet for the rst time (i.e. x0 0).
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Positive linear systems enjoy a number of remarkable properties. Particularly if they are asymptotically stable. In the present case, the necessary and sufcient condition for asymptotic stability is
b1 b2 < a1 a2 ;
a2 c1 A2 b1 c2 A1
;
a1 a2 b1 b2
x2
a 1 c 2 A 1 b 2 c 1 A2
:
a1 a2 b1 b2
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Thus, if two individuals meet for the rst time at t 0 x0 0 they will
develop positive feelings xi t tending toward the positive equilibrium value xi .
Since positive systems have at least one real eigenvalue (the so-called Frobenius
eigenvalue kF , which is the dominant eigenvalue of the system), a second-order
system cannot have complex eigenvalues, i.e., the equilibrium of system (1)
cannot be a focus. In other words, the transients of xi t cannot be damped oscillations characterized by an innite number of minima and maxima. But even
the possibility of a single maximum (minimum) can be excluded, as specied in
the following remark.
Remark 2. The function xi t, corresponding to the initial condition x0 0, is
strictly increasing, i.e. x_ i t > 0 8t; i 1; 2.
Proof. The isoclines x_ i 0 are straight lines given by
a1
c
x2 x1 1 A2 _x1 0;
b1
b1
b2
c
x2 x1 2 A1 _x2 0:
a2
a2
These isoclines (see dotted lines in Fig. 1) intersect at point E (representing the
strictly positive equilibrium x x1 ; x2 , thus partitioning the state space in
four regions. In the region containing the origin, x_ i t > 0; i 1; 2, which
proves the stated result. (
Fig. 1. Trajectories (continuous lines) and isoclines (dotted lines) of the system. The straight trajectories are identied by the two eigenvectors. Single and double arrows indicate slow and fast motion.
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It should be noticed that for nonzero initial conditions, one of the two variables xi t can rst decrease and then increase (see trajectory AE in Fig. 1) or
vice versa (see trajectory BE). This can be easily interpreted as follows. Suppose, that a couple is at equilibrium and that individual 2 has, for some reason,
a sudden decline of interest in the partner. The consequence (see trajectory AE
in Fig. 1) is that individual 1 will suer during the whole transient bringing the
couple back to equilibrium.
Moreover, for very particular initial conditions (straight trajectories in
Fig. 1) the two functions xi t xi ; i 1; 2 decay exponentially at the same
rate (equal to an eigenvalue of A). The slowest decay occurs along a trajectory
which has a positive slope and is identied by the dominant eigenvector. On the
other hand, the fastest decay occurs along the other straight trajectory which
has a negative slope. The result is a direct consequence of the well-known Frobenius theory [24] which says that in a positive and irreducible system the dominant eigenvector is strictly positive and there are no other positive eigenvectors
(it may be recalled that a system is irreducible when it cannot be decomposed
into the cascade or parallel connection of two subsystems, a property which is
guaranteed in the present case by b1 b2 > 0). Applied to a second-order system,
the Frobenius theory states that the dominant eigenvector has components with
the same sign, while the other eigenvector has components of opposite sign.
We can now focus on the inuence of the various parameters on the equilibrium and dynamics of the system, starting with the reactiveness to love and appeal.
Remark 3. An increase in the reactiveness to love [appeal] bi ci of individual i
gives rise to an increase in the love of both individuals at equilibrium.
Moreover, the relative increase Dx=x is higher for individual i.
Proof. The result can be obtained directly from Eq. (3) by deriving xi with
respect to bi ci and then dividing by xi . Condition (2), of course, must be taken
into account.
Nevertheless, this derivation is not needed. Indeed, the rst part of the remark is a direct consequence of the famous law of comparative dynamics [5].
This law states that in a positive system the increase of a positive parameter
gives rise to an increase of the components of the state vector at any time,
and hence also at equilibrium. The second part of the remark is the consequence of a general theorem concerning positive systems, known as the theorem
of maximum relative variation [8]. Such a theorem states that if the ith component of the vector b or one element of the ith row of the matrix A of an asymptotically stable and excitable positive system is slightly increased (in such a way
that the system remains asymptotically stable and excitable), the ith component
xi of the state vector at equilibrium is the most sensitive of all in relative
terms. (
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are very slow in reaching their plateau (Remark 5). Together with Eq. (3), this
means that there is a positive correlation between the time needed to reach the
equilibrium and the nal quality (x1 and x2 ) of the relationship. Thus, passions
that develop too quickly should be expected to be associated with poor romantic relationships.
4. Consequences at community level
We can now try to identify the consequences, at community level, of the dynamics of love discussed in Section 3. Let us consider a community composed
by N women and N men structured in N couples An1 ; an1 ; bn1 ; cn1 ; An2 ; an2 ; bn2 ; cn2 ;
n 1; 2; . . . ; N and suppose that 1 is a woman and 2 is a man. For simplicity,
suppose that there are no women (men) with the same appeal, i.e. Ahi 6 Aki ,
8h; k with h 6 k. Such a community is considered unstable if a woman and
a man of two distinct couples believe they could be personally advantaged
by forming a new couple together. In the opposite case the community is stable.
Thus, practically speaking, unstable communities are those in which the separation and the formation of couples are quite frequent. Obviously, this denition must be further specied. The most natural way is to assume that
individual i would have a real advantage in changing partner, if this change
is accompanied by an increase of xi . However, in order to forecast the value
x1 x2 that a woman [man] will reach by forming a couple with a new partner,
she [he] should know everything about him [her] (in mathematical terms, she
[he] should know his [her] appeal A2 A1 and his [her] behavioral parameters
a2 ; b2 , and c2 [a1 ; b1 ; and c1 ]). Generally, this is not the case and the forecast
is performed with limited information. In this case it is assumed that the only
available information is the appeal of the potential future partner and that the
forecast is performed by imagining that the behavioral parameters of the future
partner are the same as those of the present partner. This choice obviously emphasizes the role of appeal, quite reasonably, because appeal is the only easily
identiable parameter in real life.
The above discussion is formally summarized by the following denition.
Denition 1. A community An1 ; an1 ; bn1 ; cn1 ; An2 ; an2 ; bn2 ; cn2 ; n 1; 2; . . . ; N is unstable if and only if there exists at least one pair h; k of couples such that
x1 Ah1 ; ah1 ; bh1 ; ch1 ; Ak2 ; ah2 ; bh2 ; ch2 > x1 Ah1 ; ah1 ; bh1 ; ch1 ; Ah2 ; ah2 ; bh2 ; ch2 ;
x2 Ah1 ; ak1 ; bk1 ; ck1 ; Ak2 ; ak2 ; bk2 ; ck2 > x2 Ak1 ; ak1 ; bk1 ; ck1 ; Ak2 ; ak2 ; bk2 ; ck2 ;
where the functions x1 : and x2 : are given by Eq. (3). A community which is
not unstable is called stable.
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We can now prove that stable communities are characterized by a very simple but peculiar property involving only appeal.
Remark 6. A community is stable if and only if the partner of the nth most
attractive woman n 1; 2; . . . ; N is the nth most attractive man.
Proof. First notice that Remark 4 implies that condition (4) is equivalent to
Ak2 > Ah2 ;
i.e. a community is unstable if and only if there exists at least one pair h; k of
couples satisfying Eq. (5). Condition (5) is illustrated in Fig. 2(a) in the appeal
space, where each couple is represented by a point.
Consider a community in which the partner of the nth most attractive woman is the nth most attractive man. Such a population is represented in Fig. 2(b),
which clearly shows that there is no pair h; k of couples satisfying inequalities
(5). Thus, the community is stable.
On the other hand, consider a stable community and assume that the couples have been numbered in order of increasing appeal of the women, i.e.
A11 < A21 < < AN1 :
6
A11 ; A12
A21 ; A22
Fig. 2. Population structures in the appeal space: (a) two points corresponding to two couples h; k
belonging to an unstable community (see (5)); (b) an example of a stable community (each dot represents a couple).
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Acknowledgements
This study has been nancially supported by the Italian Ministry of Scientic Research and Technology, under contract MURST 40% Teoria dei sistemi
e del controllo. Part of the work has been carried out at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria. The author
is grateful to Gustav Feichtinger, Technical University of Wien, Austria,
Alessandra Gragnani, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, Lucia Carli, Universita
Cattolica, Milano, Italy, and Frederic Jones, University of Wales, Cardi,
UK, for their helpful suggestions and encouragement.
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