Emergence of scaling in random networks

Citation

A.L.Barabasi, Reka Albert. Emergence of scaling in random networks. Science. 509-512

Abstract

Systems as diverse as genetic networks or the World Wide Web are best described as networks with complex topology. A common property of many large networks is that the vertex connectivities follow a scale-free power-law distribution. This feature was found to be a consequence of two generic mechanisms: (i) networks expand continuously by the addition of new vertices, and(ii) new vertices attach preferentially to sites that are already well connected. A model based on these two ingredients reproduces the observed stationary scale-free distributions,which indicates that the development of large networks is governed by robust self-organizing phenomena that go beyond the particulars of the individual systems.