Computation at the edge of chaos: phase transitions and emergent computation
CNLS '89 Proceedings of the ninth annual international conference of the Center for Nonlinear Studies on Self-organizing, Collective, and Cooperative Phenomena in Natural and Artificial Computing Networks on Emergent computation
Weakly connected neural networks
Weakly connected neural networks
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The "order for free" exhibited by some classes of system has been exploited by natural selection in order to build systems capable of exhibiting complex behaviour. Here we explore the impact of one ordering constraint, spatial embedding, on the dynamical complexity of networks. We apply a measure of functional complexity derived from information theory to a set of spatially embedded network models in order to make some preliminary characterisations of the contribution of space to the dynamics (rather than mere structure) of complex systems. Although our measure of dynamical complexity hinges on a balance between functional integration and segregation, which seem related to an understanding of the small-world property, we demonstrate that smallworld structures alone are not enough to induce complexity. However, purely spatial constraints can produce systems of high intrinsic complexity by introducing multiple scales of organisation within a network.