Abstract

The omnipresence of the same basic equations, function forms, algorithms, and quantitative methods is one of the most spectacular characteristics of contemporary modeling practice. Recently, the emergence of the discussion of templates and template transfer has addressed this striking cross-disciplinary reach of certain mathematical forms and computational algorithms. In this paper, we develop a notion of a model template, consisting of its mathematical structure, ontology, prototypical properties and behaviors, focal conceptualizations, and the paradigmatic questions it addresses. We apply this notion to three widely disseminated and powerful model templates: the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model of spin glasses, scale-free networks, and the Kuramoto model of synchronization. We argue that what appears to be an interdisciplinary model transfer between different domains turns out, from a broader perspective, to be the application of transdisciplinary model templates across a multitude of domains. We also point out a further feature of template-based modeling that so far has not been discussed: template entanglement. Such entanglement enhances and makes manifest the conceptual side of model templates.