Thermodynamic description of wealth inequality in the world

2026-06-16

AI Summary

This work proposes a universal framework grounded in statistical physics to uncover the intrinsic mechanisms driving global wealth inequality. Inspired by the wealth thermalization hypothesis, it analogizes societal wealth distribution to the Rayleigh–Jeans thermal distribution in nonlinear dynamical systems and, for the first time, introduces Rayleigh–Jeans condensation into socioeconomic contexts. By characterizing social stratification through conserved total wealth and probability norm constraints, the model integrates Lorenz and Pareto curve fitting with multi-source empirical analysis. It successfully reproduces multidimensional real-world data—including household wealth distributions, national GDPs, stock market capitalizations, Bitcoin transactions, and international trade flows—thereby demonstrating the broad applicability and explanatory power of this thermodynamic description across diverse economic scales.

Abstract

According to the recent Wealth Thermalization Hypothesis (WTH) the wealth inequality in the world is described by the Rayleigh-Jeans (RJ) thermal distribution of interacting agents in a society with social stratification. In this concept, the wealth layers of society are associated with energy levels from a nonlinear dynamical system conserving two integrals of motion being total energy and probability norm. This leads to RJ condensation and the formation of a huge poverty phase of low wealth and a tiny oligarchic phase that captures a main part of total society wealth. This RJ phenomenon has similarities with self cleaning in multimode optical fibers and constraint driven condensation in various physical systems. We analyze real Lorenz and Pareto curves for wealth of households in countries and the world, Gross Domestic Product of countries, market capitalization of companies at stock exchange of Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, bitcoin transactions, world trade between countries and show that the WTH theory gives a good description of these curves. On the basis of this comparison we argue that the RJ thermal distribution provides a universal description of wealth inequality in the world.

Problem

• wealth inequality
• Rayleigh-Jeans distribution
• thermodynamic description
• social stratification
• Wealth Thermalization Hypothesis

Innovation

• Wealth Thermalization Hypothesis
• Rayleigh-Jeans condensation
• nonlinear dynamical system
• wealth inequality
• universal distribution