Abstract:
Many dynamical systems in science and technology are networks: they consist of individual nodes which interact. Examples include power grids, neuron networks, webs of competing species and social media networks. Even if the individual nodes in such a network system are very simple and if their pairwise interactions are completely understood, the global structure of the network can spark remarkably complex dynamical behaviour. Examples of such emergent phenomena include synchronisation, phase locking, and chaos. Mathematics is pivotal for understanding how to predict and compute qualitative and quantitative changes in the dynamics of a network. Can we decompose large networks into tractable pieces or rescale them to analysable proportions? Can we design reliable computational methods that are insensitive to changing the specifications of the network? This mini-symposium brings together scientists working at the forefront of understanding the relation between network structure and dynamics.
Organizers:
Bob Rink
Peter Ashwin