Skip to main content
Advertisement
PLOS statement on recent US Executive Orders

February 27, 2025

PLOS statement on recent US Executive Orders

PLOS remains committed to open science: integrity, transparency, inclusivity, and collaboration. Read more on our blog.

Image credit: PLOS

Interested in joining the board?

PLOS Complex Systems is looking for exceptional editors to join our team.

Apply

06/04/2025

Research article

Persistence of wealth inequality from network effects

Addressing wealth and income inequality requires a thorough understanding of the mechanisms driving these disparities. Agent-Based Models (ABMs) offer a powerful tool for simulating these complex systems, capturing the intricate interplay of individual behaviors and emergent macroeconomic trends.

Image credit: Dmytro Dimedko

Persistence of wealth inequality from network effects

06/02/2025

research article

Efficient and accurate simulation of infectious diseases on adaptive networks

The authors introduce a rejection-based stochastic sampling algorithm with high acceptance probability (‘high-acceptance sampling’; HAS), tailored to simulate disease spreading on adaptive networks. They demonstrate that HAS is exact and can be multiple orders faster than Gillespie’s algorithm.

Image credit: Renee Bohmer

Efficient and accurate simulation of infectious diseases on adaptive networks

05/23/2025

research article

Describing Medellín as a complex tropical high Andean urban system

The authors assess the structural complexity underlying the spatial configuration of urban state variables in Medellín. Leveraging the concept of the urban fractal, they describe the general organizational mode of the urban plane in terms of movement and mobility, while employing fractal dimension to quantify the dynamic affinities among different urban state variables.

Image credit: Juan Saravia

Describing Medellín as a complex tropical high Andean urban system

05/23/2025

research article

Neuronal networks quantified as vector fields

There is a lack of approaches to characterize the functional properties of such biological neuronal networks without resorting to dimensionality reduction methods. The authors introduce an approach to describe these functional properties by using its activity-defining constituents, the weights of the synaptic connections and the current activity of its neurons. 

Neuronal networks quantified as vector fields

Image credit: Conny Scheider

05/15/2025

research article

Investigating the link between impulsivity and obesity through urban scaling laws

Here, we investigate the relationship between obesity and impulsivity through urban scaling and causal discovery. For 915 cities in the United States of America, we study the prevalence of obesity in adults, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, and relevant urban features. 

Investigating the link between impulsivity and obesity through urban scaling laws

Image credit: Henry Perks

05/13/2025

research article

Centrality in complex networks under incomplete data

The concept of centrality is one of the essential tools for analyzing complex systems. Over the years, a large number of centrality indices have been proposed that account for different aspects of a network. Unfortunately, most real networks are substantially incomplete, which affects the results of the centrality measures.

Centrality in complex networks under incomplete data

Image credit: Pawel Czerwinski

04/22/2025

Research Article

Complex economics of simple periodic systems

This paper investigates the financial economics of simple periodic systems. Well-established financial procedures appear to be complicated, and lead to partially biased results. 

Complex economics of simple periodic systems

Image credit: Pawel Czerwinski

04/21/2025

Research Article

Evolution of conditional cooperation in a spatial public goods game

The authors study the evolution of cooperation using a computational model that allows us to simulate evolutionary dynamics and shows the conditions under which cooperation observed in collectives could emerge. 

Evolution of conditional cooperation in a spatial public goods game

Image credit: Federico et al

Get new content from PLOS Complex Systems in your inbox

PLOS Complex Systems | ISSN: 2837-8830 (online)