Congestion induced by the structure of multiplex networks

8 years 7 months ago

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at every layer. They turn out to be good abstractions of the intricate connectivity of multimodal transportation networks, among other types of complex systems. One of the most important critical phenomena arising in such networks is the emergence of congestion in transportation ﬂows. Here we prove analytically that the structure of multiplex networks can induce congestion for ﬂows that otherwise will be decongested if the individual layers were not interconnected. We provide explicit equations for the onset of congestion and approximations that allow to compute this onset from individual descriptors of the individual layers. The observed cooperative phenomenon reminds the Braess’ paradox in which adding extra capacity to a network when the moving entities selﬁshly choose their route can in some cases reduce overall performance. Similarly, in the multiplex structure, the efﬁciency in transportation can unbalance the transportation loads resulting in unexpected congestion. PAC...

Albert Solé-Ribalta, Sergio Gómez, A

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