Kinetic Theory of Random Graphs: from Paths to Cycles

We study the growth of random networks under a constraint that the diameter, defined as the average shortest path length between all nodes, remains approximately constant. We show that if the graph maintains the form of its degree distribution then that distribution must be approximately scale-free with an exponent between 2 and 3. The diameter constraint can be interpreted as an environmental selection pressure that may help explain the scale-free nature of graphs for which ...

We extend the standard scale-free network model to include a ``triad formation step''. We analyze the geometric properties of networks generated by this algorithm both analytically and by numerical calculations, and find that our model possesses the same characteristics as the standard scale-free networks like the power-law degree distribution and the small average geodesic length, but with the high-clustering at the same time. In our model, the clustering coefficient is also...

In this article we give an in depth overview of the recent advances in the field of equilibrium networks. After outlining this topic, we provide a novel way of defining equilibrium graph (network) ensembles. We illustrate this concept on the classical random graph model and then survey a large variety of recently studied network models. Next, we analyze the structural properties of the graphs in these ensembles in terms of both local and global characteristics, such as degree...

We present an analytic formalism describing structural properties of random uncorrelated networks with arbitrary degree distributions. The formalism allows to calculate the main network characteristics like: the position of the phase transition at which a giant component first forms, the mean component size below the phase transition, the size of the giant component and the average path length above the phase transition. We apply the approach to classical random graphs of Erd...

The present paper introduces ad hoc communication networks as examples of large scale real networks that can be prospected by statistical means. A description of giant cluster formation based on the single parameter of node neighbor numbers is given along with the discussion of some asymptotic aspects of the giant cluster sizes.

Models of simple excitable dynamics on graphs are an efficient framework for studying the interplay between network topology and dynamics. This subject is a topic of practical relevance to diverse fields, ranging from neuroscience to engineering. Here we analyze how a single excitation propagates through a random network as a function of the excitation threshold, that is, the relative amount of activity in the neighborhood required for an excitation of a node. Using numerical...

Real growing networks like the WWW or personal connection based networks are characterized by a high degree of clustering, in addition to the small-world property and the absence of a characteristic scale. Appropriate modifications of the (Barabasi-Albert) preferential attachment network growth capture all these aspects. We present a scaling theory to describe the behavior of the generalized models and the mean field rate equation for the problem. This is solved for a specifi...

We present a general class of geometric network growth mechanisms by homogeneous attachment in which the links created at a given time $t$ are distributed homogeneously between a new node and the exising nodes selected uniformly. This is achieved by creating links between nodes uniformly distributed in a homogeneous metric space according to a Fermi-Dirac connection probability with inverse temperature $\beta$ and general time-dependent chemical potential $\mu(t)$. The chemic...

We develop a phenomenological theory of critical phenomena in networks with an arbitrary distribution of connections $P(k)$. The theory shows that the critical behavior depends in a crucial way on the form of $P(k)$ and differs strongly from the standard mean-field behavior. The critical behavior observed in various networks is analyzed and found to be in agreement with the theory.

In this paper we describe the emergence of scale-free degree distributions from statistical mechanics principles. We define an energy associated to a degree sequence as the logarithm of the number of indistinguishable simple networks it is possible to draw given the degree sequence. Keeping fixed the total number of nodes and links, we show that the energy of scale-free distribution is much higher than the energy associated to the degree sequence of regular random graphs. Thi...