The structure and dynamics of multilayer networks

TL;DR

This paper reviews the recent advances in understanding the structure and dynamics of multilayer networks, emphasizing their importance in modeling complex systems with diverse interactions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the structural measures and dynamical processes specific to multilayer networks, highlighting recent methodological developments.

Findings

Redefinition of basic structural measures for multilayer networks

Insights into how multilayer structure influences dynamical processes

Enhanced understanding of real-world systems through multilayer network analysis

Abstract

In the past years, network theory has successfully characterized the interaction among the constituents of a variety of complex systems, ranging from biological to technological, and social systems. However, up until recently, attention was almost exclusively given to networks in which all components were treated on equivalent footing, while neglecting all the extra information about the temporal- or context-related properties of the interactions under study. Only in the last years, taking advantage of the enhanced resolution in real data sets, network scientists have directed their interest to the multiplex character of real-world systems, and explicitly considered the time-varying and multilayer nature of networks. We offer here a comprehensive review on both structural and dynamical organization of graphs made of diverse relationships (layers) between its constituents, and cover several relevant issues, from a full redefinition of the basic structural measures, to understanding how the multilayer nature of the network affects processes and dynamics.