A method for studying the exact properties of a class of inhomogeneous stochastic many-body systems is developed and presented in the framework of a voter model perturbed by the presence of a “zealot,” an individual allowed to favor an “opinion.” We compute exactly the magnetization of this model and find that in one (1D) and two dimensions (2D) it evolves, algebraically ($\sim t^{-1/2}$) in 1D and much slower ($\sim 1/\ln t$) in 2D, towards the unanimity state chosen by the zealot. In higher dimensions the stationary magnetization is no longer uniform: the zealot cannot influence all the individuals. The implications to other physical problems are also pointed out.

• Received 6 February 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.028701