Neelima Gupte

Congestion and decongestion in a communication network.

We study network traffic dynamics in a two-dimensional communication network with regular nodes and hubs. If the network experiences heavy message traffic, congestion occurs due to the finite capacity of the nodes. We discuss strategies to manipulate hub capacity and hub connections to relieve congestion and define a coefficient of betweenness centrality (CBC), a direct measure of network traffic, which is useful for identifying hubs that are most likely to cause congestion. The addition of assortative connections to hubs of high CBC relieves congestion very efficiently.

Connectivity strategies to enhance the capacity of weight-bearing networks

The connectivity properties of a weight-bearing network are exploited to enhance its capacity. We study a 2D network of sites where the weight-bearing capacity of a given site depends on the capacities of the sites connected to it in the layers above. The network consists of clusters, viz., a set of sites connected with each other with the largest such collection of sites being denoted as the maximal cluster. New connections are made between sites in successive layers using two distinct strategies. The key element of our strategies consists of adding as many disjoint clusters as possible to the sites on the trunk T of the maximal cluster. In the first strategy the reconnections start from the last layer upwards and stop when no new sites are added. In the second case, the reconnections start from the top layer and go all the way down to the last layer. The new networks can bear much higher weights than the original networks and have much lower failure rates. The first strategy leads to a greater enhancement of stability, whereas the second leads to a greater enhancement of capacity compared to the original networks. The original network used here is a typical example of the branching hierarchical class. However, the application of strategies similar to ours can yield useful results in other types of networks as well.

Heat flux distribution and rectification of complex networks

It was recently found that the heterogeneity of complex networks can enhance transport properties such as epidemic spreading, electric energy transfer, etc. A trivial deduction would be that the presence of hubs in complex networks can also accelerate the heat transfer although no concrete research has been done so far. In the present study, we have studied this problem and have found a surprising answer: the heterogeneity does not favor but prevents the heat transfer. We present a model to study heat conduction in complex networks and find that the network topology greatly affects the heat flux. The heat conduction decreases with the increase of heterogeneity of the network caused by both degree distribution and the clustering coefficient. Its underlying mechanism can be understood by using random matrix theory. Moreover, we also study the rectification effect and find that it is related to the degree difference of the network, and the distance between the source and the sink. These findings may have potential applications in real networks, such as nanotube/nanowire networks and biological networks.

Crossover behavior in a communication network.

We address the problem of message transfer in a communication network. The network consists of nodes and links, with the nodes lying on a two-dimensional lattice. Each node has connections with its nearest neighbors, whereas some special nodes, which are designated as hubs, have connections to all the sites within a certain area of influence. The degree distribution for this network is bimodal in nature and has finite variance. The distribution of travel times between two sites situated at a fixed distance on this lattice shows fat-fractal behavior as a function of hub density. If extra assortative connections are now introduced between the hubs so that each hub is connected to two or three other hubs, the distribution crosses over to power-law behavior. Crossover behavior is also seen if end-to-end short cuts are introduced between hubs whose areas of influence overlap, but this is much milder in nature. In yet another information transmission process, namely, the spread of infection on the network with assortative connections, we again observed crossover behavior of another type, viz., from one power law to another for the threshold values of disease transmission probability. Our results are relevant for the understanding of the role of network topology in information spread processes.

Dynamical and statistical behaviour of coupled map lattices

Coupled map lattices are spatially extended networks of dynamically evolving elements which exhibit a rich variety of dynamical and statistical phenomena. We discuss the phenomena of bifurcation behaviour, multiple co-existing attractors and spatio-temporal intermittency in the context of coupled sine circle map and coupled logistic map lattices. There are interesting connections between the three phenomena. We also discuss the statistical and dynamical characterisers of the phenomena seen.

Gradient mechanism in a communication network.

We study the efficiency of the gradient mechanism of message transfer in a two-dimensional communication network of regular nodes and randomly distributed hubs. Each hub on the network is assigned some randomly chosen capacity and hubs with lower capacities are connected to the hubs with maximum capacity. The average travel times of single messages traveling on the lattice decrease rapidly as the number of hubs increase. The functional dependence of the average travel times on the hub density shows q-exponential behavior with a power-law tail. We also study the relaxation behavior of the network when a large number of messages are created simultaneously at random locations and travel on the network toward their designated destinations. For this situation, in the absence of the gradient mechanism, the network can show congestion effects due to the formation of transport traps. We show that if hubs of high betweenness centrality are connected by the gradient mechanism, efficient decongestion can be achieved. The gradient mechanism is less prone to the formation of traps than other decongestion schemes. We also study the spatial configurations of transport traps and propose minimal strategies for their elimination.

Dynamic characterizers of spatiotemporal intermittency

We study spatiotemporal intermittency (STI) in a system of coupled sine circle maps. The phase diagram of the system shows parameter regimes where the STI lies in the directed percolation (DP) class, as well as regimes which show pure spatial intermittency (where the temporal behavior is regular) which do not belong to the DP class. Thus both DP and non-DP behavior can be seen in the same system. The signature of DP and non-DP behavior can be seen in the dynamic characterizers, viz. the spectrum of eigenvalues of the linear stability matrix of the evolution equation, as well as in the multifractal spectrum of the eigenvalue distribution. The eigenvalue spectrum of the system in the DP regimes is continuous, whereas it shows evidence of level repulsion in the form of gaps in the spectrum in the non-DP regime. The multifractal spectrum of the eigenvalue distribution also shows the signature of DP and non-DP behavior. These results have implications for the manner in which correlations build up in extended systems.

Transmission of packets on a hierarchical network: statistics and explosive percolation.

We analyze an idealized model for the transmission or flow of particles, or discrete packets of information, in a weight bearing branching hierarchical two dimensional network and its variants. The capacities add hierarchically down the clusters. Each node can accommodate a limited number of packets, depending on its capacity, and the packets hop from node to node, following the links between the nodes. The statistical properties of this system are given by the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. We obtain analytical expressions for the mean occupation numbers as functions of capacity, for different network topologies. The analytical results are shown to be in agreement with the numerical simulations. The traffic flow in these models can be represented by the site percolation problem. It is seen that the percolation transitions in the 2D model and in its variant lattices are continuous transitions, whereas the transition is found to be explosive (discontinuous) for the V lattice, the critical case of the 2D lattice. The scaling behavior of the second-order percolation case is studied in detail. We discuss the implications of our analysis.

A perspective on nonlinear dynamics

We present a brief report on the conference, a summary of the proceedings, and a discussion on the field of nonlinear science studies and its current frontiers.

SYNCHRONICITY IN COUPLED SINE CIRCLE MAPS ; SOME NUMERICAL RESULTS

We study the spatially synchronised and temporally periodic orbits of a 1-d lattice of coupled sine circle maps. A numerical study of the synchronised solutions reveals synchronisation over large regions of parameter space. The entire devils staircase of periodic orbits as seen for the single circle map is observed for the synchronised coupled sine circle map lattice. The parameter regions for which the synchronised solution is obtained are investigated for different types of initial conditions. These reveal interesting structures in the parameter space and appear to be symmetric about Ω = 0.5.