Dynamical Processes on Complex Networks

The availability of large data sets have allowed researchers to uncover complex properties such as large scale fluctuations and heterogeneities in many networks which have lead to the breakdown of standard theoretical frameworks and models. Until recently these systems were considered as haphazard sets of points and connections. Recent advances have generated a vigorous research effort in understanding the effect of complex connectivity patterns on dynamical phenomena. For example, a vast number of everyday systems, from the brain to ecosystems, power grids and the Internet, can be represented as large complex networks. This new and recent account presents a comprehensive explanation of these effects.

Alain Barrat is Senior Researcher at the Centre de Physique Théorique (CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, France) and at the Institute for Scientific Interchange in Turin, Italy. His research interests are in the field of out-of-equilibrium statistical mechanics.

Marc Barthélemy is Senior Researcher at the Institute for Theoretical Physics (IPhT) at the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), France. His research interests are in the application of statistical physics to complex systems.

Alessandro Vespignani is Sternberg Distinguished Professor in Physics, Computer Science and Health Science at Northeastern University, USA. He is also Fellow of the Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences at Harvard University and Scientific Director of the Institute for Scientific Interchange Foundation in Italy.