Credit: Katharina Prochazka, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna
Physical diffusion, the movement of atoms (left), and linguistic diffusion, the movement of language(s) (right), sound like two very different things, but similar methods can be used to study both. Using a technique based on models of physical diffusion, it was possible to describe why people in Carinthia, Austria, switch their language. Interaction among the speakers was identified as the main driving force for the language shift.