Fig. 2

The eigenvalue of the system compared with the level of external input and system size. a With $w=\alpha$ the eigenvalue decreases with lower levels of external input h, with the system reaching the critical regime in the absence of external input ($\lambda =0$ i.e. $R_0=1$, the case studied in the companion paper). b With $h=1/N$ and $w=\alpha$ the eigenvalue of the fixed point $\lambda \to 0$ as $N\to \mathrm{\infty }$. Thus, the system approaches the critical state as the system size increases