Science > Physics > Physicist proves it's location, location, location
| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Sam Wormley" |
| Date: |
03 Oct 2006 09:17:22 PM |
| Object: |
Physicist proves it's location, location, location |
Physicist proves it's location, location, location (Oct 3)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/10/10/3
Most storeowners wouldn't think to consult statistical mechanics in
order to situate their premises -- but a French physicist has proven
otherwise.
Techniques originally developed to study magnetic systems are being
used in Lyons, France to help merchants find suitable locations for
their shops.
Pablo Jensen had been modelling nanostructures for 15 years before he
grew tired of it, deciding instead to adapt his skills to town
planning. "That was four years ago," he said, having recently assumed a
position at the Institute of Complex Systems in Lyons, France. "I was
having dinner with a friend, and we began to discuss the way that towns
are laid out. We noticed that, for example, all the furniture sellers
are in the same neighbourhood, whereas all the bakeries tend to be
homogenously distributed. I wanted to try to quantify it."
This might seem like an unlikely motivation for a research study,
especially for a physicist, but it has in fact borne some rather
interesting conclusions. In his paper (Phys Rev E 74 035101) Jensen has
set about creating links between all retail locations, and has then
attributed them ratios based on how much they attract or repel each
other -- in other words, whether one type of retailer is more or less
likely to have another type existing within a close radius. Jensen has
chosen this radius to be 100 metres, the average distance a person is
willing to walk from store to store when shopping.
See: http://physicsweb.org/article/news/10/10/3
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