A universal transition in the robustness of evolving open systems

Abstract

Can the structure of a system that consists of many elements interacting with each other grow in complexity when new elements are added to it? This is an essential question for understanding various real, open, complex systems, such as living organisms, ecosystems, and social systems. Using a very simple model, this study demonstrates that such systems can grow only when the elements have a moderate number of interactions on average. This behaviour comes from a balance between two opposing effects: although an increase in the number of interactions makes each individual element more robust against disturbances, it also increases the net impact of the loss of any element on the system.