Adaptive dynamical networks

It is a fundamental challenge to understand how the function of a network is related to its structural organization. Adaptive dynamical networks represent a broad class of systems that can change their connectivity over time depending on their dynamical state. The most important feature of such systems is that their function depends on their structure and vice versa. While the properties of static networks have been extensively investigated in the past, the study of adaptive networks is much more challenging. Moreover, adaptive dynamical networks are of tremendous importance for various application fields, in particular, for the models for neuronal synaptic plasticity, adaptive networks in chemical, epidemic, biological, transport, and social systems, to name a few. In this review, we provide a detailed description of adaptive dynamical networks, show their applications in various areas of research, highlight their dynamical features and describe the arising dynamical phenomena, and give an overview of the available mathematical methods developed for understanding adaptive dynamical networks

The new frontiers of Islamist extremism: understanding the threat that al-Qaeda affiliates pose to African security

This paper examines three violent Islamist groups in Africa - Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Shabaab and Boko Haram - and the way they’ve evolved, especially in the linkages between them and al-Qaeda’s ideology and tactics. Overview Over the past decade various groups that had been operating with a predominantly nationalistic agenda have increasingly become aligned with al-Qaeda in name, ideology, methodologies of attack and tactics. A new jihadism is spreading across Africa. This paper examines three groups—Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. All of these groups are separate from the al-Qaeda core. They haven’t taken up the al-Qaeda model because they’ve been told to, but they’re emulating it. They’re all looking to become dispersed, decentralised movements that frame local grievances in the language of the global jihad. For the international community, the danger lies not so much in the immediate threat to Western targets from African Islamists, but in the potential future creation of a failed state that would provide a base for training and radicalising large numbers of Islamists. The proven capacity of AQIM, Boko Haram and al-Shabaab to train and share fighting and bombmaking skills with new recruits, and then deliver those recruits into intensive front-line fighting roles in areas such as Syria and Iraq, will be the groups’ most immediate international impact. There are no clear solutions for African states combating the Islamist groups but any solution will necessarily be complex. Unfortunately, if the situation’s allowed to continue, there is danger that we’ll see a rise in instability in the regions where the groups operate, and in their growth and ambition

Opinion dynamics on typical complex networks and applications

This thesis investigates the dynamics in models of how opinions within a network of people, or of entities, change over time before arriving at a consensus. Considering the system as a complex network, continuous models are derived based on differential equations with each node in the network representing a person or entity. The interactions between the entities are explored and the influence of the topology of the network is established. It is shown that the structure and evolving mechanisms are crucial factors to determine whether there will be a stable consensus and to establish the network efficiency at which the system approaches a consensus. Both linear and nonlinear dynamics are considered. A new algorithm of a network partition is developed based on the fact that some nodes achieve local consensus earlier than the global stable solution. The experimental results show that the algorithm outperforms existing methods. Special consideration is given to networks which undergo an explosive phase transition, when a small number of new connections cause a rapid change in network dynamics with consensus occurring after the transition point. Results indicate that the consideration of spatial variations incorporating a social outcast strongly influence the dynamics approaching consensus. The methods are applied to illustrate the two party election competition, which demonstrates characteristic behaviour prior to majority

Economic Policy Analysis and the Internet: Coming to Terms with a Telecommunications Anomaly

The significant set of public policy issues for economic analysis that arise from the tensions between the ‘special benefits’ of the Internet as a platform for innovation, and the drawbacks of the “anomalous” features of the Internet viewed as simply one among the array of telecommunications systems, is the focus of discussion in this chapter. Economists concerned with industrial organization and regulation (including antitrust and merger law) initially found new scope for application of their expertise in conventional policy analyses of the Internet’s interactions with other segments of the telecommunications sector (broadcast and cable television, radio and telephone), and emphasized the potential congestion problems posed by user anonymity and flat rate pricing. Policy issues of a more dynamic kind have subsequently come to the fore. These involve classic tradeoffs between greater efficiency and producer and consumer surpluses today, and a potential for more innovation in Web-based products and service in the future. Many such tradeoffs involve choices such as that between policies that would preserve the original ‘end-to-end’ design of the original Internet architecture, and those that would be more encouraging of market-driven deployment of new technologies that afforded ISPs with greater market power the opportunity to offer (and extract greater profits from) restricted-Web services that consumers valued highly, such as secure and private VOIP.public policy, telecommunications, Web-based products, user anonymity

Perspectives of Nuclear Physics in Europe: NuPECC Long Range Plan 2010

The goal of this European Science Foundation Forward Look into the future of Nuclear Physics is to bring together the entire Nuclear Physics community in Europe to formulate a coherent plan of the best way to develop the field in the coming decade and beyond.<p></p> The primary aim of Nuclear Physics is to understand the origin, evolution, structure and phases of strongly interacting matter, which constitutes nearly 100% of the visible matter in the universe. This is an immensely important and challenging task that requires the concerted effort of scientists working in both theory and experiment, funding agencies, politicians and the public.<p></p> Nuclear Physics projects are often “big science”, which implies large investments and long lead times. They need careful forward planning and strong support from policy makers. This Forward Look provides an excellent tool to achieve this. It represents the outcome of detailed scrutiny by Europe’s leading experts and will help focus the views of the scientific community on the most promising directions in the field and create the basis for funding agencies to provide adequate support.<p></p> The current NuPECC Long Range Plan 2010 “Perspectives of Nuclear Physics in Europe” resulted from consultation with close to 6 000 scientists and engineers over a period of approximately one year. Its detailed recommendations are presented on the following pages. For the interested public, a short summary brochure has been produced to accompany the Forward Look.<p></p&gt

The Kuramoto model in complex networks

181 pages, 48 figures. In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Physics Reports 2015 Acknowledgments We are indebted with B. Sonnenschein, E. R. dos Santos, P. Schultz, C. Grabow, M. Ha and C. Choi for insightful and helpful discussions. T.P. acknowledges FAPESP (No. 2012/22160-7 and No. 2015/02486-3) and IRTG 1740. P.J. thanks founding from the China Scholarship Council (CSC). F.A.R. acknowledges CNPq (Grant No. 305940/2010-4) and FAPESP (Grants No. 2011/50761-2 and No. 2013/26416-9) for financial support. J.K. would like to acknowledge IRTG 1740 (DFG and FAPESP).Peer reviewedPreprin

A Tale of Two Networks: Terrorism, Transnational Law, and Network Theory

Talk of networks and network theory has become almost ubiquitous in the field of counterterrorism. Terrorist organizations are networks. Terrorists have been empowered by the Internet, ethnic diasporas, and cell phones—networks all. Many of the putative targets of terrorists—electrical grids, oil pipelines, and transportation systems, to name a few—are themselves networks. And, perhaps less often mentioned, terrorists are increasingly hampered by national and international laws that foster cooperation and coordination among states—a network of laws. From smart mobs to net wars, from narco-trafficking to the Internet, network theory has provided insights into decentralized social organizations and their coordinated action. Both sides in the War on Terror are networked and are themselves networks. This essay is the tale of two networks: what happens when the network of terror and the network of law collide. Part II will briefly introduce the network theory and use it to describe the mechanisms of al Qaeda\u27s terror network. Part III will turn to how network theory has affected counterterrorism strategy, particularly emphasizing intelligence analysis and the use of legal regimes to leverage strengths. Part IV will return to network theory more broadly and ask how the network of law can be adjusted to be more effective in disrupting the terrorists\u27 network. This essay concludes that, despite the hostility of the Bush Administration to international law and that Administrations\u27 efforts to circumvent existing domestic legal regimes, the network of domestic and international laws, including the protection of civil liberties, is a crucial component to a successful counterterrorism strategy

Cyberterrorism within the Broader International Counter-Terrorism Framework

Terrorism has caused a tremendous amount of direct and indirect human suffering on a global scale in the 20th and 21st centuries. As a response, a vast collection of international and domestic regulation to combat this fundamental threat has emerged during the last few decades. However, the advent of the internet and the rapid wave of technological advancement that has resulted from it have created a new type of terrorist threat, that of cyberterrorism. The central aim of this thesis is to compare the global counter-terrorism framework applicable to conventional terrorism with that applied specifically to cyberterrorism and to analyze their potential similarities and discrepancies in a larger context. This comparison is performed through an analysis of the central sources of international counter-terrorism regulation such as the U.N. “sectoral treaties” on terrorism, the (negotiated) U.N. Draft Comprehensive Convention on Terrorism and customary international law. This thesis seeks to also highlight some of the inherent biases of international law and how they are reflected in the global counter-terrorism framework. This thesis presents a generally critical view of the prevailing counter-terrorism framework based on a combination of constructivist and hermeneutic ideas, including deconstruction, post-structuralism and social constructionism. In addition to legal dogmatism, the methods of phenomenography and phenomenology are also used in the thesis’ analysis of the subjects, norms and legislative theories of counter-terrorism and cyberterrorism regulation. Based on the analysis of this thesis, the main weaknesses of the current international framework are the lack of a general definition of terrorism in both treaty and customary law and the politically sensitive issue of whether to include in the normative instruments the exceptions for state terrorism and for the right of freedom movements to resist foreign occupation under their right of self-determination. These issues, in addition to the specific problem regarding attribution in cyberspace, are also the central weak points of cyberterrorism regulation. Several elements of the current response to terrorism are also guided by domestic and global politics, islamophobia and neo-colonialism. This thesis concludes that, despite its flaws, the most effective and justified solution to the aforementioned issues would be to either finally conclude the U.N. Draft Comprehensive Convention on Terrorism or to draft new “sectoral” international treaties that are specifically targeted at cyberterrorist threats.Terrorismi on aiheuttanut suunnattoman määrän suoraa ja epäsuoraa kärsimystä maailmanlaajuisesti 1900- ja 2000-luvuilla. Tämän seurauksena viime vuosikymmeninä on säädetty laaja kokoelma kansallisia ja kansainvälisiä säädöksiä terrorismin uhan torjumiseksi. Internetin yleistyminen ja sitä seurannut räjähdysmäinen teknologinen kehitys on kuitenkin luonut uudentyyppisen terrorismiuhan, kyberterrorismin. Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on verrata tavanomaiseen terrorismiin ja kyberterrorismiin sovellettavia kansainvälisiä säädöskehikkoja keskenään ja analysoida niiden potentiaalisia yhtäläisyyksiä ja eroja laajemmassa kontekstissa. Tämä vertailu toteutetaan analysoimalla keskeistä kansainvälistä terrorismilainsäädäntöä kuten Y.K.:n ”sektoraalisia” terrorismisopimuksia, luonnosta Y.K.:n kokonaisvaltaiseksi terrorismisopimukseksi sekä kansainvälistä tapaoikeutta. Tutkielma pyrkii myös korostamaan eräitä kansainvälisen oikeuden rakenteellisia, haitallisia ennakkoasenteita ja sitä miten ne heijastuvat kansainväliseen terrorisminvastaiseen sääntelyyn. Tutkielma esittää yleisesti kriittisen näkemyksen voimassaolevasta kansainvälisestä terrorismisääntelykehikosta pohjautuen konstruktivistisiin ja hermeneuttisiin ideoihin kuten dekonstruktioon, post-strukturalismiin ja sosiaalisen konstruktionismiin. Lainopin lisäksi tutkielmassa hyödynnetään fenomenografiaa ja fenomenologiaa analysoitaessa terrorismin- ja kyberterrorisminvastaisen sääntelyn subjekteja, säännöksiä ja oikeudellisia teorioita. Tutkielman analyysiin perustuen, nykyisen kansainvälisen sääntelykehikon keskeisimmät heikkoudet ovat terrorismin yleisen määritelmän puuttuminen sekä kansainvälisissä sopimuksissa että tapaoikeudessa ja poliittinen ongelma siitä, pitäisikö oikeudellisiin instrumentteihin sisällyttää poikkeukset valtionterrorismille sekä vapautusliikkeiden oikeudelle vastustaa vieraan vallan miehitystä itsemääräämisoikeutensa perusteella. Nämä ongelmat, yhdessä kyberavaruuden aiheuttaman erillisen syyksilukemisen problematiikan, kanssa ovat myös kyberterrorismisääntelyn heikoimmat kohdat. Useat elementit nykyisestä terrorisminvastaisesta sääntelystä ovat myös kansallisen ja kansainvälisen politiikan, islamofobian sekä uuskolonialismin ohjaamia. Tämä tutkielma päätyy siihen johtopäätökseen, että, siihen liittyvistä puutteista huolimatta, tehokkain ja oikeudenmukaisin keino edellä kuvattujen ongelmien ratkaisemiseen olisi joko lopulta hyväksyä Y.K.:n kansainvälinen kokonaisvaltainen terrorismisopimus tai säätää uusia, erityisesti kyberterrorismiuhkien torjuntaan kohdistettavia ”sektoraalisia” sopimuksia

Perspectives on adaptive dynamical systems

Adaptivity is a dynamical feature that is omnipresent in nature, socio-economics, and technology. For example, adaptive couplings appear in various real-world systems, such as the power grid, social, and neural networks, and they form the backbone of closed-loop control strategies and machine learning algorithms. In this article, we provide an interdisciplinary perspective on adaptive systems. We reflect on the notion and terminology of adaptivity in different disciplines and discuss which role adaptivity plays for various fields. We highlight common open challenges and give perspectives on future research directions, looking to inspire interdisciplinary approaches