City seminar discusses the complex networks in daily life

Prof Guanrong Chen, Director of the Centre for Chaos and Complex Networks and Chair Professor of the Department of Electronic Engineering, discussed the complex networks in everyday life at Academic 3 on 2nd July. The lecture was part of the City Seminar Series, organized by the College of Business.

Typical complex networks include the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW), wireless communication networks, biological neural networks, financial networks, transportation networks, social networks, and many others.

Prof Chen introduced the three basic mathematical models of complex networks: random-graph networks, small-world networks and scale-free networks. A few examples were given for illustrations regarding the Internet, WWW, and social networks such as the movie-actors network and scientific collaboration network, as well as biological networks. “The world is flat; you and [Barack] Obama’s relationship may only be two connections away.” Prof Chen said, adding some humour to his talk.

Through these examples, he hoped the audiences could foresee more useful real-world applications of network science in the near future.

About the City Seminar

The City Seminar 香港席明納 has been initiated by Prof Houmin Yan, Dean of the College, with the aim to discuss topics together (席Xí), to understand such topics in depth (明Míng), and to gain something of value from the discussions (納Nà).

The College will be inviting a number of professors and/or scholars to explore various topics during the series.

To watch Prof Chen's speech in the City Seminar, please click here.
For more information about recent and upcoming seminars, please visit the City Seminar website.