On the non-trivial dynamics of complex networks

Ginestra Bianconi, Matteo Marsili, Fernando Vega-Redondo
2005 Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications  
Some phenomena are characterized by a non-trivial network dynamics exhibiting selforganized criticality or discontinuous transitions, coexistence and hysteresis. After a short review, we show that a similar approach suggests that social communities stabilized by network interactions may become unstable if they grow too large. r Many real systems cannot be fully understood without accounting for their complex network structure. For example, static properties of networks-such as their scale-free
more » ... ature [1] or the small world property [2]-are not only ubiquitous, but bear dramatic consequences on simple processes-such as epidemics [3]-taking place on them. Networks are relevant also for their dynamic properties. 1 The complexity of many systems arises precisely from the fact that the network of ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/physa 0378-4371/$ -see front matter r (M. Marsili). 1 Our focus here is not on dynamical processes which generate particular statistical regularities, nor on the processes which take place on the network, but rather on the evolution of the network itself.
doi:10.1016/j.physa.2004.08.057 fatcat:fyh6yiu3trgqxnobtangrjd3pm