Optimizing controllability of edge dynamics in complex networks by perturbing network structure

Using the minimum input signals to drive the dynamics in complex networks toward some desired state is a fundamental issue in the field of network controllability. For a complex network with the dynamical process defined on its edges, the controllability of this network is optimal if it can be fully controlled by applying one input signal to an arbitrary non-isolated vertex of it. In this paper, the adding-edge strategy and turning-edge strategy are proposed to optimize the controllability by minimum structural perturbations. Simulations and analyses indicate that the minimum number of adding-edges required for the optimal controllability is equal to the minimum number of turning-edges, and networks with positively correlated in- and out-degrees are easier to achieve optimal controllability. Furthermore, both the strategies have the capacity to reveal the relationship between certain structural properties of a complex network and its controllability of edge dynamics.