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Published on: October 24, 2017
Nonequilibrium phase transitions in directed small-world networks
Alejandro D Sánchez1, Juan M López, Miguel A Rodríguez
1Instituto de Física de Cantabria, CSIC-UC, E-39005 Santander, Spain. asanchez@ifca.unican.es
Physical Review Letters
|January 22, 2002
Summary
Directed links in complex systems significantly alter behavior, leading to novel phase transitions in spin-like models. This research explores how network directionality impacts system dynamics and stability out of equilibrium.
Area of Science:
- Complex systems science
- Network theory
- Statistical physics
Background:
- Many real-world systems (social, biological, economic) are modeled as complex networks.
- In these networks, relationships are often directed, meaning links have a one-way influence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of directed links on a spin-like model.
- To understand how network directionality affects system behavior and phase transitions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a simple spin-like model.
- Simulated the model's evolution on a small-world network with directed links.
Main Results:
- Directed networks introduce a complex phase diagram.
- Observed both first- and second-order phase transitions out of equilibrium.
Conclusions:
- Network directionality is crucial for understanding system dynamics.
- Directed small-world networks exhibit non-trivial emergent behaviors and phase transitions.
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