Dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systems
Microscopic structural damage, such as lesions in neural systems or disruptions in urban transportation networks, can impair the dynamics crucial for systems' functionality, such as electrochemical signals or human flows, or any other type of information exchange, respectively, at larger topolo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.013084 |
| _version_ | 1797210589802528768 |
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| author | Arsham Ghavasieh Giulia Bertagnolli Manlio De Domenico |
| author_facet | Arsham Ghavasieh Giulia Bertagnolli Manlio De Domenico |
| author_sort | Arsham Ghavasieh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microscopic structural damage, such as lesions in neural systems or disruptions in urban transportation networks, can impair the dynamics crucial for systems' functionality, such as electrochemical signals or human flows, or any other type of information exchange, respectively, at larger topological scales. Damage is usually modeled by progressive removal of components or connections and, consequently, systems' robustness is assessed in terms of how fast their structure fragments into disconnected subsystems. Yet, this approach fails to capture how damage hinders the propagation of information across scales, since system function can be degraded even in absence of fragmentation—e.g., pathological yet structurally integrated human brain. Here, we probe the response to damage of dynamical processes on the top of complex networks, to study how such an information flow is affected. We find that removal of nodes central for network connectivity might have insignificant effects, challenging the traditional assumption that structural metrics alone are sufficient to gain insights about how complex systems operate. Using a damaging protocol explicitly accounting for flow dynamics, we analyze synthetic and empirical systems, from biological to infrastructural ones, and show that it is possible to drive the system towards functional fragmentation before full structural disintegration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:13:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85834a038bad4c149e0eba400187a0e1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:13:00Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-85834a038bad4c149e0eba400187a0e12024-04-12T17:28:12ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642023-02-015101308410.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.013084Dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systemsArsham GhavasiehGiulia BertagnolliManlio De DomenicoMicroscopic structural damage, such as lesions in neural systems or disruptions in urban transportation networks, can impair the dynamics crucial for systems' functionality, such as electrochemical signals or human flows, or any other type of information exchange, respectively, at larger topological scales. Damage is usually modeled by progressive removal of components or connections and, consequently, systems' robustness is assessed in terms of how fast their structure fragments into disconnected subsystems. Yet, this approach fails to capture how damage hinders the propagation of information across scales, since system function can be degraded even in absence of fragmentation—e.g., pathological yet structurally integrated human brain. Here, we probe the response to damage of dynamical processes on the top of complex networks, to study how such an information flow is affected. We find that removal of nodes central for network connectivity might have insignificant effects, challenging the traditional assumption that structural metrics alone are sufficient to gain insights about how complex systems operate. Using a damaging protocol explicitly accounting for flow dynamics, we analyze synthetic and empirical systems, from biological to infrastructural ones, and show that it is possible to drive the system towards functional fragmentation before full structural disintegration.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.013084 |
| spellingShingle | Arsham Ghavasieh Giulia Bertagnolli Manlio De Domenico Dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systems Physical Review Research |
| title | Dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systems |
| title_full | Dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systems |
| title_fullStr | Dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systems |
| title_short | Dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systems |
| title_sort | dismantling the information flow in complex interconnected systems |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.013084 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT arshamghavasieh dismantlingtheinformationflowincomplexinterconnectedsystems AT giuliabertagnolli dismantlingtheinformationflowincomplexinterconnectedsystems AT manliodedomenico dismantlingtheinformationflowincomplexinterconnectedsystems |