Higher-Order Interactions and Their Relevance to Real Networks

Dear Colleagues,

Recent advances in network science have led to the emergence of a theoretical backbone for profiling and modelling networked ecosystems by looking beyond conventional pairwise linkages between two nodes and expanding into interactions formed by three- or many-body coupling through direct and indirect effects. Higher-order networks encoded with many-body interactions have been shown to be highly relevant to the dynamics of a wide range of systems, ranging from human brains and social networks to natural systems. Furthermore, studies have shown that network dynamics are governed by these novel complex structures, which can have profound effects on key processes such as synchronization, spreading or contagion, evolutionary mechanics, and ecosystem resilience. While established dynamical models, such as the Kuramoto and susceptible-infected-susceptible models, have been applied to explore new phenomena encapsulated in higher-order networks, it is also widely recognized that there is enormous scope for further theoretical exploration and development on the modelling of dynamics, their empirical validation, and wider application in other disciplines.

This Special Issue aims to collect innovative research endeavors on the high-order interactions and their wider dissemination to networked ecosystems in other disciplines, such as, but not limited to, neurobiology, social science, epidemiology, ecology, biology, transportation, and utility. The reconstruction, forecast, and interpretation of real-world natural and engineered complex systems that provide empirical validation or novel application of higher-order interactions and dynamics on these systems, which might help shape future research direction, are within the scope of this Special Issue.

Dr. Athen Ma
Guest Editor

Dr. Ye Sun
Guest Editor Assistant

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