The fundamental advantages of temporal networks

Most networked systems of scientific interest are characterized by temporal links, meaning the network’s structure changes over time. It has been shown that link temporality, by distrupting network paths, can slow down or otherwise hinder many dynamical processes, from information spreading to accessibility. Considering the ubiquity of temporal networks in nature, we ask: Are there any advantages of the networks’ temporality? Here we develop an analytical framework to study the critical process of control in temporal networks. We show that temporal networks can, compared to their static counterparts, reach controllability faster, demand orders of magnitude less control energy, and allow control trajectories that are considerably more compact than those characterizing static networks. Thus, temporality ensures a degree of flexibility that would be unattainable in static networks, enhancing our ability to control them.