PLoS ONE (Jan 2013)

Matching rules for collective behaviors on complex networks: optimal configurations for vibration frequencies of networked harmonic oscillators.

  • Meng Zhan,
  • Shuai Liu,
  • Zhiwei He

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082161
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 12
p. e82161

Abstract

Read online

The structure-dynamics-function has become one of central problems in modern sciences, and it is a great challenge to unveil the organization rules for different dynamical processes on networks. In this work, we study the vibration spectra of the classical mass spring model with different masses on complex networks, and pay our attention to how the mass spatial configuration influences the second-smallest vibrational frequency (ω2) and the largest one (ωN). For random networks, we find that ω2 becomes maximal and ωN becomes minimal if the node degrees are point-to-point-positively correlated with the masses. In these cases, we call it point-to-point matching. Moreover, ω2 becomes minimal under the condition that the heaviest mass is placed on the lowest-degree vertex, and ωN is maximal as long as the lightest mass is placed on the highest-degree vertex, and in both cases all other masses can be arbitrarily settled. Correspondingly, we call it single-point matching. These findings indicate that the matchings between the node dynamics (parameter) and the node position rule the global systems dynamics, and sometimes only one node is enough to control the collective behaviors of the whole system. Therefore, the matching rules might be the common organization rules for collective behaviors on networks.