On the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networks

Abstract Complex networks, and functional networks in particular, have become a standard tool to understand the structure and dynamics of real-world complex systems. One usually hidden assumption is that the structure of the reconstructed functional networks encodes useful information to guide inter...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Massimiliano Zanin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08933-z
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849238547361431552
author Massimiliano Zanin
author_facet Massimiliano Zanin
author_sort Massimiliano Zanin
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Complex networks, and functional networks in particular, have become a standard tool to understand the structure and dynamics of real-world complex systems. One usually hidden assumption is that the structure of the reconstructed functional networks encodes useful information to guide interventions on the physical layer, when the latter is not known. We here test this assumption using a minimal model, simulating a propagation process in a physical network, and guiding interventions using node properties observed in the corresponding functional representation. We show how this approach becomes less optimal the more complex the topology is; up to becoming marginally better than choosing nodes at random in the real case of the European air transport network.
format Article
id doaj-art-6552e10230a54e3ca7b6e66ae4f3975e
institution Kabale University
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-6552e10230a54e3ca7b6e66ae4f3975e2025-08-20T04:01:35ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111110.1038/s41598-025-08933-zOn the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networksMassimiliano Zanin0Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (CSIC-UIB), Campus UIBAbstract Complex networks, and functional networks in particular, have become a standard tool to understand the structure and dynamics of real-world complex systems. One usually hidden assumption is that the structure of the reconstructed functional networks encodes useful information to guide interventions on the physical layer, when the latter is not known. We here test this assumption using a minimal model, simulating a propagation process in a physical network, and guiding interventions using node properties observed in the corresponding functional representation. We show how this approach becomes less optimal the more complex the topology is; up to becoming marginally better than choosing nodes at random in the real case of the European air transport network.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08933-z
spellingShingle Massimiliano Zanin
On the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networks
Scientific Reports
title On the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networks
title_full On the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networks
title_fullStr On the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networks
title_full_unstemmed On the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networks
title_short On the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networks
title_sort on the limits of the intervention on complex systems guided by functional networks
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08933-z
work_keys_str_mv AT massimilianozanin onthelimitsoftheinterventiononcomplexsystemsguidedbyfunctionalnetworks