{"id":18253,"date":"2014-11-25T10:44:15","date_gmt":"2014-11-25T10:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/research\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T16:05:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T10:35:14","slug":"does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior","status":"publish","type":"research","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior","title":{"rendered":"Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">According to Brian Skinner, a physicist at the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, and his team, people in crowds subconsciously calculate and predict when they are likely to collide with other people. While studying crowd movement, the researchers modeled people as moving particles that repel each other, similar to electrostatic charges of the same sign. However, they discovered that when people move in crowds, the repulsive force is proportional to the inverse square of the anticipated time to the next collision. Moreover, instead of the repulsion becoming stronger as two people approach each other, people walk side-by-side without anticipating bumping into each other. This study, which\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">displays people\u2019s use of time law in crowded areas,\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">can help in safer design of public places. Skinner now wants to identify crowd behavior in life-threatening situations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Read more in <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/news\/mathematical-time-law-governs-crowd-flow-1.16385\">Nature<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":33313,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"new_tags":[],"series":[],"subject":[2873],"class_list":["post-18253","research","type-research","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","subject-physics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior? | Editage Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to a group of researchers, people in crowds subconsciously calculate and predict when they are likely to collide with other people. Read on for more details.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior? | Editage Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to a group of researchers, people in crowds subconsciously calculate and predict when they are likely to collide with other people. Read on for more details.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Editage Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-19T10:35:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/editage-insights-generic-banner.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"446\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Editage\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior\",\"name\":\"Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior? | Editage Insights\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-25T10:44:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-19T10:35:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"According to a group of researchers, people in crowds subconsciously calculate and predict when they are likely to collide with other people. Read on for more details.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp\",\"width\":656,\"height\":336},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Researchs\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/research\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\",\"name\":\"Editage Insights\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Editage Insights\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":324,\"caption\":\"Editage Insights\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Editage\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior? | Editage Insights","description":"According to a group of researchers, people in crowds subconsciously calculate and predict when they are likely to collide with other people. Read on for more details.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior? | Editage Insights","og_description":"According to a group of researchers, people in crowds subconsciously calculate and predict when they are likely to collide with other people. Read on for more details.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior","og_site_name":"Editage Insights","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage","article_modified_time":"2025-09-19T10:35:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":870,"height":446,"url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/editage-insights-generic-banner.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Editage","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior","name":"Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior? | Editage Insights","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","datePublished":"2014-11-25T10:44:15+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-19T10:35:14+00:00","description":"According to a group of researchers, people in crowds subconsciously calculate and predict when they are likely to collide with other people. Read on for more details.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/editage-insights-generic-banner_298.webp","width":656,"height":336},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/does-mathematical-time-law-govern-crowd-behavior#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Researchs","item":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/research"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Does mathematical time law govern crowd behavior?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/","name":"Editage Insights","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#organization","name":"Editage Insights","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/editage-insights-logo-1-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":324,"caption":"Editage Insights"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Editage","https:\/\/x.com\/Editage"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research\/18253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/research"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research\/18253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"new_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/new_tags?post=18253"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=18253"},{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=18253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}