Network Dynamics
(An English-language class)
This course is over.
Lectures and Tutorials (4 SWS/6 ECTS)
This course is devoted to a mathematical and computational study of mechanisms governing the dynamics of network change. A specific emphasis lies on communication networks and social interaction. Topics include strategic network formation and game theory, opinion dynamics, and social contagion.
Affinity for mathematics is required for this class.
Times
| Lectures: | Tuesday 17:00-18:30, E 403 (Sven Kosub) |
| Tutorials: | Wednesday 15:15-16:45, E 403 (Mehwish Nasim) |
| Oral exams: | February 2014, TBA (1st date) |
| April 2014, TBA (2nd date) |
Homework Assignments
Assignments are made available on this webpage as a PDF-file (in English) every Wednesday. The editing time for each homework is about one week. It is due on the next Wednesday at 15:15 (right before the start of the tutorial). The assignments have to be delivered in written form in English. The corrected and scored assignments will be returned in the next tutorial.
- Assignment 1 - Post date: 10/23/13 - Due date: 10/30/13
- Assignment 2 - Post date: 10/30/13 - Due date: 11/06/13 (PDF, 62 KB)
- Assignment 3 - Post date: 11/06/13 - Due date: 11/13/13 (PDF, 74 KB)
- Assignment 4 - Post date: 11/13/13 - Due date: 11/20/13 (PDF, 69 KB)
- Assignment 5 - Post date: 11/20/13 - Due date: 11/27/13 (PDF, 77 KB)
- Assignment 6 - Post date: 11/27/13 - Due date: 12/04/13 (PDF, 66 KB)
- Assignment 7 - Post date: 12/04/13 - Due date: 12/11/13 (PDF, 86 KB)
- Assignment 8 - Post date: 12/11/13 - Due date: 12/18/13 (PDF, 62 KB)
- Assignment 9 - Post date: 12/18/13 - Due date: 01/08/14 (PDF, 65 KB)
- Assignment 10 - Post date: 01/08/14 - Due date: 01/15/14 (PDF, 71 KB)
- Assignment 11 - Post date: 01/15/14 - Due date: 01/22/14 (PDF, 64 KB)
- Assignment 12 - Post date: 01/22/14 - Due date: 01/29/14 (PDF, 67 KB)
- Assignment 13 - Post date: 01/29/14 - Due date: 02/05/14 (PDF, 157 KB)
Content
The course contains the following topics (at least they are planned):
- An Internet example
- Routing hierarchies
- Policy routing
- Best-response dynamics
- Fixed-point analysis
- Networks
- Network exploration and analysis
- Network data
- Network representation
- Networks as dynamical systems
- Simulation
- Agent-based modelling
- The agency problem
- Sequential dynamical systems
- Ensemble approaches
- Models
- Potential maximizers
- Thresholds
- Contagion
- Opinion change
- Piecewise linear functions
Lecture Notes
Lecture notes are made available close in time to the lectures. The current version can be downloaded here. In case you have suggestions or comments (typos or any kind of errors) please send an email.
Literature
The course is mainly based on research papers which are not yet covered in a textbook appropriate for computer scientists. In-depth and background material of certain course aspects can be found in:
- Henning S. Mortveit, Christian M. Reidys: An Introduction to Sequential Dynamical Systems. Springer, New York, NY, 2008.
- Stuart A. Kauffman. The Origins of Order. Self-Orzganization and Selection in Evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993.
- Yaneer Bar-Yam. Dynamics of Complex Systems. The Advanced Book Program, Addison Wesley, Reading, MA, 1997.
- Heinz Georg Schuster. Deterministic Chaos. VCH, Weinheim, 1994.
- Stephen Wolfram. A New Kind of Science. Wolfram Media, Champaign, IL, 2002