Title: Power law behavior in designed and natural complex systems: self-organized criticality versus highly optimized tolerance
Abstract: Power law scalings are abundant in natural and man-made complex systems, but the presence of a power law in itself is insufficient to specify the mechanism that generates it. It would be particularly valuable to understand the origin of the power law distribution of electrical blackout size versus frequency in national high-voltage power grids, in order to better moderate blackouts. The concept of self-organized criticality (SOC), inspired by the critical dynamics of phase transitions, underlies many cascade models for power grid failures; however, the distinct highly optimized tolerance (HOT) mechanism can also replicate empirical statistics. This essay surveys recent SOC and HOT models to compare and contrast the two mechanisms in the context of the power grid system.
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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