  Controllability of complex networks has been the focal point of many recent
studies in the field of complexity. These landmark advances shed a new light on
the dynamics of natural and technological complex systems. Here, we analyze the
controllability of a swarm of autonomous self-propelled agents having a
topological neighborhood of interactions, applying the analytical tools
developed for the study of the controllability of arbitrary complex directed
networks. To this aim we thoroughly investigate the structural properties of
the swarm signaling network which is the information transfer channel
underpinning the dynamics of agents in the physical space. Our results show
that with 6 or 7 topological neighbors, every agent not only affects, but is
also affected by all other agents within the group. More importantly, still
with 6 or 7 topological neighbors, each agent is capable of full control over
all other agents. This finding is yet another argument justifying the
particular value of the number of topological neighbors observed in field
observations with flocks of starlings.
