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Describing a given system as a network means reducing it to set of discrete nodes connected by links. This reduction often leads to a considerable simplification, but preserves the complex pattern of interactions among the system's constituents. Network models thus lend themselves naturally to the analysis of complex systems in which the interactions between constituents give rise to emergent properties and phenomena. Here, the hope is that a properly constructed network model can simplify the system such that these properties and phenomena can be understood analytically. In this talk I  illustrate this approach by several short examples from my work and a study on the stability of ecological food webs that I present in greater detail. I conclude with a forward looking discussion arguing that recent successes follow a certain pattern that could lead to a conceptual unification of complex systems research.

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Dr. Thilo Gross, University of Bristol
Seminarraum I. Physikalisches Institut
Contact: not specified