No Arabic abstract
It has been proposed that adaptation in complex systems is optimized at the critical boundary between ordered and disordered dynamical regimes. Here, we review models of evolving dynamical networks that lead to self-organization of network topology based on a local coupling between a dynamical order parameter and rewiring of network connectivity, with convergence towards criticality in the limit of large network size $N$. In particular, two adaptive schemes are discussed and compared in the context of Boolean Networks and Threshold Networks: 1) Active nodes loose links, frozen nodes aquire new links, 2) Nodes with correlated activity connect, de-correlated nodes disconnect. These simple local adaptive rules lead to co-evolution of network topology and -dynamics. Adaptive networks are strikingly different from random networks: They evolve inhomogeneous topologies and broad plateaus of homeostatic regulation, dynamical activity exhibits $1/f$ noise and attractor periods obey a scale-free distribution. The proposed co-evolutionary mechanism of topological self-organization is robust against noise and does not depend on the details of dynamical transition rules. Using finite-size scaling, it is shown that networks converge to a self-organized critical state in the thermodynamic limit. Finally, we discuss open questions and directions for future research, and outline possible applications of these models to adaptive systems in diverse areas.
In self-organized criticality (SOC) models, as well as in standard phase transitions, criticality is only present for vanishing driving external fields $h rightarrow 0$. Considering that this is rarely the case for natural systems, such a restriction poses a challenge to the explanatory power of these models. Besides that, in models of dissipative systems like earthquakes, forest fires and neuronal networks, there is no true critical behavior, as expressed in clean power laws obeying finite-size scaling, but a scenario called dirty criticality or self-organized quasi-criticality (SOqC). Here, we propose simple homeostatic mechanisms which promote self-organization of coupling strengths, gains, and firing thresholds in neuronal networks. We show that near criticality can be reached and sustained even in the presence of external inputs because the firing thresholds adapt to and cancel the inputs, a phenomenon similar to perfect adaptation in sensory systems. Similar mechanisms can be proposed for the couplings and local thresholds in spin systems and cellular automata, which could lead to applications in earthquake, forest fire, stellar flare, voting and epidemic modeling.
A system is in a self-organized critical state if the distribution of some measured events (avalanche sizes, for instance) obeys a power law for as many decades as it is possible to calculate or measure. The finite-size scaling of this distribution function with the lattice size is usually enough to assume that any cut off will disappear as the lattice size goes to infinity. This approach, however, can lead to misleading conclusions. In this work we analyze the behavior of the branching rate sigma of the events to establish whether a system is in a critical state. We apply this method to the Olami-Feder-Christensen model to obtain evidences that, in contrast to previous results, the model is critical in the conservative regime only.
In this work we present a general mechanism by which simple dynamics running on networks become self-organized critical for scale free topologies. We illustrate this mechanism with a simple arithmetic model of division between integers, the division model. This is the simplest self-organized critical model advanced so far, and in this sense it may help to elucidate the mechanism of self-organization to criticality. Its simplicity allows analytical tractability, characterizing several scaling relations. Furthermore, its mathematical nature brings about interesting connections between statistical physics and number theoretical concepts. We show how this model can be understood as a self-organized stochastic process embedded on a network, where the onset of criticality is induced by the topology.
Systems with many stable configurations abound in nature, both in living and inanimate matter. Their inherent nonlinearity and sensitivity to small perturbations make them challenging to study, particularly in the presence of external driving, which can alter the relative stability of different attractors. Under such circumstances, one may ask whether any clear relationship holds between the specific pattern of external driving and the particular attractor states selected by a driven multistable system. To gain insight into this question, we numerically study driven disordered mechanical networks of bistable springs which possess a vast number of stable configurations arising from the two stable rest lengths of each spring, thereby capturing the essential physical properties of a broad class of multistable systems. We find that the attractor states of driven disordered multistable mechanical networks are fine-tuned with respect to the pattern of external forcing to have low work absorption from it. Furthermore, we find that these drive-specific attractor states are even more stable than expected for a given level of work absorption. Our results suggest that the driven exploration of the vast configuration space of these systems is biased towards states with exceptional relationship to the driving environment, and could therefore be used to `discover states with desired response properties in systems with a vast landscape of diverse configurations.
Rhythmogenesis, which is critical for many biological functions, involves a transition to coherent activity through cell-cell communication. In the absence of centralized coordination by specialized cells (pacemakers), competing oscillating clusters impede this global synchrony. We show that spatial symmetry-breaking through a frequency gradient results in the emergence of localized wave sources driving system-wide activity. Such gradients, arising through heterogeneous inter-cellular coupling, may explain directed rhythmic activity during labor in the uterus despite the absence of pacemakers.