Science of Complex Systems

Description

By José Balsa-Barreiro, Aymeric Vié, et al. :

"The science of complex systems analyzes the structure and dynamics of different types of systems. This structure (also called topology) determines the hierarchical relationships among nodes." (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0403-x?)

Typology

By José Balsa-Barreiro, Aymeric Vié, et al. :

"Three common network representations are shown:

• In the case of (a) centralized systems, the whole network is connected to a single node that is centrally located.

• In (b) decentralized systems, the links between nodes are distributed among hubs located at different parts of the network.

• Finally, (c) in distributed systems, the links between nodes are equally distributed along with the network.

\Systems such the shown in (a) are very sensitive to the malfunctioning of the central node, which is connected to most of the network and its eventual malfunctioning will spread easily across the whole system. Such malfunctioning can come from its behavior or by propagating the failure of any of its neighbors. Likewise, systems such the shown in (c) whose connections are distributed equally across all nodes, may be very vulnerable to the propagation of failures only if the number of interdependencies exceeds a certain threshold and the system becomes too connected." (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0403-x?)