title: Canalizing Kauffman networks: nonergodicity and its effect on their critical behavior.
abstract: Boolean networks have been used to study numerous phenomena, including gene regulation, neural networks, social interactions, and biological evolution. Here, we propose a general method for determining the critical behavior of Boolean systems built from arbitrary ensembles of Boolean functions. In particular, we solve the critical condition for systems of units operating according to canalizing functions and present strong numerical evidence that our approach correctly predicts the phase transition from order to chaos in such systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA. auto@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: André Auto
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Luís A Nunes
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Amaral
mesh_terms: D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D012984:Software; D049490:Systems Biology