On February 27, researchers from the International Academic Center of Complex Systems ( IACCS ) of Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai ( BNU Zhuhai ) published their work entitled “Rigorous criteria for the collapse of nonlinear cooperative networks” in Physical Review Letters.

Abstract of the manuscript

Many real-world complex systems, when hitting a tipping point, undergo irreversible sudden shifts that can eventually take a great toll on humanity and the natural world, such as ecosystem collapses, disease outbreaks, etc. Previous work has adopted approximations to predict the tipping points, but due to the nature of nonlinearity, this may lead to unexpected errors in predicting real-world systems. In this work, the researchers obtain the rigorous bounds of the tipping points for general nonlinear cooperative networks. The results offer two rigorous criteria that determine the collapse and survival of such a system. These two criteria are decided by the combined effects of dynamical parameters and interaction topology.

This work is a significant step forward in the area of complex system and nonlinear science. And Editors' Suggestion in Physical Review Letters is regarded as one of the world's highest honors for a physics paper. The Editors of Physical Review Letters wrote: “We are pleased to inform you that the Letter “Rigorous criteria for the collapse of nonlinear cooperative networks” has been highlighted by the editors as an Editors' Suggestion. Publication of a Letter is already a considerable achievement, as Physical Review Letters accepts fewer than 1/5 of submissions, and is ranked first among physics and mathematics journals by the Google Scholar five-year h-index. A highlighted Letter has additional significance, because only about one Letter in six is highlighted as a Suggestion due to its particular importance, innovation, and broad appeal. Suggestions are downloaded more than twice as often as the average Letter, and receive substantially more press coverage. Suggestions are cited at roughly twice the rate of nonhighlighted Letters.”

The full article is available here:

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.097401

The manuscript is featured on the Physical Review Letters homepage.

Formal letter from the Editors of Physical Review Letters