Mathematical models that describe the physical behavior of magnetic materials can also be used to describe the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
This is the conclusion of a study conducted in Brazil by researchers affiliated with São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Rio Claro and Ilha Solteira and reported in an article published in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications.
The study was part of a project led by Mariano de Souza, a professor at UNESP’s Rio Claro Physics Department, and of the PhD research of Isys Mello, whose thesis advisor is Souza, last author of the article. Another co-author is Antonio Seridonio, a professor at UNESP’s Ilha Solteira Physics and Chemistry Department.
The central idea of the study was an analogy between concepts in magnetism and epidemiology in which electron interaction is compared with interaction among people. “We used the Ising model, widely used in several areas of physics, to demonstrate the importance of social distancing and isolation in reducing the rate at which the virus spreads,” Souza told Agência FAPESP.
Read more at Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
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