Exploring complex networks. (English) Zbl 1370.90052

Strogatz, Steven H.

Nature, London 410, No. 6825, 268-276 (2001).

Summary: The study of networks pervades all of science, from neurobiology to statistical physics. The most basic issues are structural: how does one characterize the wiring diagram of a food web or the Internet or the metabolic network of the bacterium Escherichia coli? Are there any unifying principles underlying their topology? From the perspective of nonlinear dynamics, we would also like to understand how an enormous network of interacting dynamical systems – be they neurons, power stations or lasers – will behave collectively, given their individual dynamics and coupling architecture. Researchers are only now beginning to unravel the structure and dynamics of complex networks.

MSC:

90B10	Deterministic network models in operations research
90B15	Stochastic network models in operations research
92B20	Neural networks for/in biological studies, artificial life and related topics
68M11	Internet topics