Strong modules and asynchronous attractors of Boolean networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Ruet, Paul
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Ruet, Paul
author_facet Ruet, Paul
contents We consider Boolean networks with interaction graphs partitioned into strongly connected components, which we call strong modules. This type of network decomposition has been considered in the literature, primarily from the perspective of attractor detection algorithms. In this paper, we aim to provide an algebraic basis for this line of research in the case of asynchronous Boolean networks. We prove that the asynchronous attractors of a network can be described as a dependent sum construction: as products of attractors of its controlled strong modules. We then show that a representation of all attractors can be computed in polynomial time under two conditions: the strong modules are small, and either the network is sparse or its defining functions have small size circuits (in particular when they are nested canalizing). We illustrate these results on a published Boolean model.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_10193
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Strong modules and asynchronous attractors of Boolean networks
Ruet, Paul
Combinatorics
Discrete Mathematics
We consider Boolean networks with interaction graphs partitioned into strongly connected components, which we call strong modules. This type of network decomposition has been considered in the literature, primarily from the perspective of attractor detection algorithms. In this paper, we aim to provide an algebraic basis for this line of research in the case of asynchronous Boolean networks. We prove that the asynchronous attractors of a network can be described as a dependent sum construction: as products of attractors of its controlled strong modules. We then show that a representation of all attractors can be computed in polynomial time under two conditions: the strong modules are small, and either the network is sparse or its defining functions have small size circuits (in particular when they are nested canalizing). We illustrate these results on a published Boolean model.
title Strong modules and asynchronous attractors of Boolean networks
topic Combinatorics
Discrete Mathematics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.10193