Collective Phenomena Emerging from the Interactions between Dynamical Processes in Multiplex Networks

We introduce a framework to intertwine dynamical processes of differentnature, each with its own distinct network topology, using a multilayernetwork approach. As an example of collective phenomena emerging fromthe interactions of multiple dynamical processes, we study a model whereneural dynamics and nutrient transport are bidirectionally coupled insuch a way that the allocation of the transport process at one layerdepends on the degree of synchronization at the other layer, and viceversa. We show numerically, and we prove analytically, that themultilayer coupling induces a spontaneous explosive synchronization anda heterogeneous distribution of allocations, otherwise not present inthe two systems considered separately. Our framework can findapplication to other cases where two or more dynamical processes such assynchronization, opinion formation, information diffusion, or diseasespreading, are interacting with each other.