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Efficiency and robustness in ant networks of galleries

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Abstract.

Recent theoretical and empirical studies have focused on the topology of large networks of communication/interactions in biological, social and technological systems. Most of them have been studied in the scope of the small-world and scale-free networks’ theory. Here we analyze the characteristics of ant networks of galleries produced in a 2-D experimental setup. These networks are neither small-worlds nor scale-free networks and belong to a particular class of network, i.e. embedded planar graphs emerging from a distributed growth mechanism. We compare the networks of galleries with both minimal spanning trees and greedy triangulations. We show that the networks of galleries have a path system efficiency and robustness to disconnections closer to the one observed in triangulated networks though their cost is closer to the one of a tree. These networks may have been prevented to evolve toward the classes of small-world and scale-free networks because of the strong spatial constraints under which they grow, but they may share with many real networks a similar trend to result from a balance of constraints leading them to achieve both path system efficiency and robustness at low cost.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 4, France

    J. Buhl, J. Gautrais & G. Theraulaz

  2. ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 80, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    R. V. Solé & S. Valverde

  3. École Polytechnique de l’Université de Nantes, 2 rue de la Houssiniére, BP 92208, 44322, Nantes Cedex 03, France

    P. Kuntz

  4. CENOLI, CP 231, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    J. L. Deneubourg

Authors
  1. J. Buhl
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  2. J. Gautrais
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  3. R. V. Solé
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  4. P. Kuntz
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  5. S. Valverde
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  6. J. L. Deneubourg
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  7. G. Theraulaz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Buhl.

Additional information

Received: 16 July 2004, Published online: 26 November 2004

PACS:

89.75.Fb Structures and organization in complex systems - 89.75.Hc Networks and genealogical trees - 87.23.Ge Dynamics of social systems

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Buhl, J., Gautrais, J., Solé, R.V. et al. Efficiency and robustness in ant networks of galleries. Eur. Phys. J. B 42, 123–129 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00364-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00364-9

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