Networks

      The description and analysis of complex systems in terms of networks was brought recently into research mainstream by a group of physicists and mathematicians, such as A. Barabasi, S. Strogatz and others. The network formalism addresses the systemic properties that result from a particular organization of connections between interacting components of a system. Therefore, the actual nature and function of the components, or the form of their interactions are unimportant in this type of analysis. In other words, the network formalism is applicable to a wide range of complex systems of different natures. The novel description proved highly fruitful in applications to various biological and other systems and resulted in an explosion of publications in high profile journals. Scale-free network models describe many natural and social phenomena.


REFERENCES

 

Web sites:

Self-Organized Networks. University of Notre Dame, USA. Albert-Laszlo Barabasi.

Steven H. Strogatz at Cornell University, USA.

 

Popular books and review articles:

Linked: The New Science of Networks. Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. (Massachusetts: Perseus Publishing, 2002).

Barabasi, A.L. and Bonabeau, E. (2003) Scale-Free Networks. Scientific American 288:60-69. (9.3 MB)

 

Scholar articles:

Watts, D. J. and Strogatz, S.H. (1998) Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks. Nature 393:440-42. (273 KB)

Strogatz, S.H. (2001) Exploring complex networks. Nature 410: 268-276. (588 KB)

Barabasi, A.L. and Albert, R. (1999) Emergence of scaling in random networks. Science 286(5439):509-12. (100 KB)

Albert, R., Jeong, H. and Barabasi, A.L. (2000) Error and attack tolerance of complex networks. Nature 406(6794):378-82. (240 KB)

Barabasi, A.L. and Oltvai, Z.N. (2004) Network biology: understanding the cell's functional organization. Nature Reviews Genetics 5(2):101-13. (382 KB)