An investigation of synchrony in transport networks

The cumulative degree distributions of transport networks, such as air transportation networks and respiratory neuronal networks, follow power laws. The significance of power laws with respect to other network performance measures, such as throughput and synchronization, remains an open question. Evolving methods for the analysis and design of air transportation networks must be able to address network performance in the face of increasing demands and the need to contain and control local network disturbances, such as congestion. Toward this end, we investigate functional relationships that govern the performance of transport networks; for example, the links between the first nontrivial eigenvalue, λ2, of a network’s Laplacian matrix—a quantitative measure of network synchronizability—and other global network parameters. In particular, among networks with a fixed degree distribution and fixed network assortativity (a measure of a network’s preference to attach nodes based on a similarity or difference), those with small λ2 are shown to be poor synchronizers, to have much longer shortest paths and to have greater clustering in comparison to those with large λ2. A simulation of a respiratory network adds data to our investigation. This study is a beginning step in developing metrics and design variables for the analysis and active design of air transport networks.