Phase Transitions in Random Boolean Networks with Different Updating Schemes

Abstract

In this paper we study the phase transitions of different types of Random Boolean networks. These differ in their updating scheme: synchronous, semi-synchronous, or asynchronous, and deterministic or non-deterministic. It has been shown that the statistical properties of Random Boolean networks change considerable according to the updating scheme. We study with computer simulations sensitivity to initial conditions as a measure of order/chaos. We find that independently of their updating scheme, all network types have very similar phase transitions, namely when the average number of connections of nodes is between one and three. This critical value depends more on the size of the network than on the updating scheme.