Northwestern University physicists discovered that incorporating variation, or disorder, into complex systems like power grids and ecosystems can surprisingly increase their stability. The research challenges the long-held assumption that uniformity is always optimal for system reliability.
The study, published September 17 in *Science*, details a mathematical framework developed by researchers to determine when variation can improve network stability. Their findings suggest that systems, including engineered technologies and natural networks, can become more resilient when their components or connections are not identical. This contrasts with previous assumptions that similar behavior among parts leads to more reliable performance.
Northwestern’s Adilson Motter, who led the work, explained that previous studies have shown “a growing number of cases in which disorder (also called heterogeneity, irregularity or asymmetry) across a network's nodes can actually improve stability and desirable behavior.” Motter noted examples in power grids, metamaterials, and brain computation. “But we didn't know how widespread this effect was or which kinds of systems could benefit from it,” he said.
The researchers also created a website allowing users to visually explore the framework by adjusting parameters and observing network component interactions. The discovery could help engineers design more resilient technologies and explain why natural systems rarely exhibit perfect uniformity. The work suggests that carefully introducing differences into a system could be advantageous.
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