Effects Of Symmetry On The Structural Controllability Of Neural Networks: A Perspective.

The controllability of a dynamical system or network describes whether a given set of control inputs can completely exert influence in order to drive the system towards a desired state. Structural controllability develops the canonical coupling structures in a network that lead to un-controllability, but does not account for the effects of explicit symmetries contained in a network. Recent work has made use of this framework to determine the minimum number and location of the optimal actuators necessary to completely control complex networks. In systems or networks with structural symmetries, group representation theory provides the mechanisms for how the symmetry contained in a network will influence its controllability, and thus affects the placement of these critical actuators, which is a topic of broad interest in science from ecological, biological and man-made networks to engineering systems and design.