科研之友
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摘要
Our world is linked by a complex mesh of networks through which information, people and goods flow. These networks are interdependent on each other, and present structural and dynamical features(1-6) different from those observed in isolated networks(7-9). Although examples of such dissimilar properties are becoming more abundant-such as in diffusion, robustness and competition-it is not yet clear where these differences are rooted. Here we show that the process of building independent networks into an interconnected network of networks undergoes a structurally sharp transition as the interconnections are formed. Depending on the relative importance of inter- and intra-layer connections, we find that the entire interdependent system can be tuned between two regimes: in one regime, the various layers are structurally decoupled and they act as independent entities; in the other regime, network layers are indistinguishable and the whole system behaves as a single-level network. We analytically show that the transition between the two regimes is discontinuous even for finite-size networks. Thus, any real-world interconnected system is potentially at risk of abrupt changes in its structure, which may manifest new dynamical properties.
- 出版日期2013-11
