Structurally robust control of complex networks

Abstract

Robust control theory has been successfully applied to numerous real-world problems using a small set of devices called controllers. However, the real systems represented by networks contain unreliable components and modern robust control engineering has not addressed the problem of structural changes on complex networks including scale-free topologies. Here, we introduce the concept of structurally robust control of complex networks and provide a concrete example using an algorithmic framework that is widely applied in engineering. The developed analytical tools, computer simulations, and real network analyses lead herein to the discovery that robust control can be achieved in scale-free networks with exactly the same order of controllers required in a standard nonrobust configuration by adjusting only the minimum degree. The presented methodology also addresses the probabilistic failure of links in real systems, such as neural synaptic unreliability in Caenorhabditis elegans, and suggests a new direction to pursue in studies of complex networks in which control theory has a role.