| Research
Interests
Just about every field of research is confronted
with networks. Metabolic and genetic networks describe how proteins,
substrates and genes interact in a cell; social networks quantify
the interactions between people in the society; the Internet is
a complex web of computers; ecological systems are best described
as a web of species. In all these fields the detailed knowledge
of the components is insufficient to describe the whole system.
Since 1960, when Paul Erdös introduced the influential random graph
theory, complex networks have been modeled as fundamentally random
graphs. Our work has mounted a serious challenge to this view. By
investigating the topology of the World Wide Web, Internet, cellular
and social networks, we discovered that networks in nature follow
a common blueprint, having scale-free characteristics. These results
represent a significant paradigm shift: scale-free networks and
the associated dynamic network modeling are a completely unexpected
turn of events with a strong impact on every research area for which
networks are relevant. We are currently exploring a wide range of
network structures, asking questions pertaining to the error and
attack tolerance of complex networks, their robustness, and trying
to address the dynamics of networks in general. We are also pursuing
a strong research program applying network theory to biological
systems, aiming to uncover the inner chemical architecture of the
cell.
Selected Publications:
“Error
and attack tolerance in complex networks,” R. Albert, H. Jeong,
and A.-L. Barabási, Nature 406 , 378 (2000).
“Bose-Einstein
condensation in complex networks,” G. Bianconi and A.-L. Barabási,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 , 5632-5635 (2001).
“Hierarchical
organization of modularity in metabolic networks,” E. Ravasz, A.
L. Somera, D. A. Mongru, Z. N. Oltvai, and A.-L. Barabási , Science
297 , 1551-1555 (2002).
“Linked: The
New Science of Networks,” A-L. Barabási (Perseus Publishing, Cambridge
2002).
“Statistical
mechanics of complex networks,” R. Albert and A.-L. Barabási, Rev.
of Mod. Phys. 74 , 47 (2002).
“Scale-Free Networks,” A.-L. Barabási and E. Bonabeau,
Sci. Amer. 288 , Issue 5, 60 (2003).
- Full Curriculum vitae (pdf)
- Please contact physics@nd.edu
if a html or other version is needed.
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