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5 - Small Worlds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2009

Rick Durrett
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
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Summary

Watts and Strogatz Model

As explained in more detail in Section 1.3, our next model was inspired by the popular concept of “six degrees of separation,” which is based on the notion that every one in the world is connected to everyone else through a chain of at most six mutual acquaintances. Now an Erdös–Rényi random graph for n = 6 billion people in which each individual has an average of μ = 42.62 friends would have average pairwise distance (log n)/(log μ) = 6, but would have very few triangles, while in social networks if A and B are friends and A and C are friends, then it is fairly likely that B and C are also friends.

To construct a network with small diameter and a positive density of triangles, Watts and Strogatz (1998) started from a ring lattice with n vertices and k edges per vertex, and then rewired each edge with probability p, connecting one end to a vertex chosen at random. This construction interpolates between regularity (p = 0) and disorder (p = 1). The disordered graph is not quite an Erdös–Rényi graph, since the degree of a node is the sum of a Binomial(k, 1/2) and an independent Poisson(k/2).

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Chapter
Information
Random Graph Dynamics , pp. 132 - 152
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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  • Small Worlds
  • Rick Durrett, Duke University, North Carolina
  • Book: Random Graph Dynamics
  • Online publication: 18 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511546594.006
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  • Small Worlds
  • Rick Durrett, Duke University, North Carolina
  • Book: Random Graph Dynamics
  • Online publication: 18 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511546594.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Small Worlds
  • Rick Durrett, Duke University, North Carolina
  • Book: Random Graph Dynamics
  • Online publication: 18 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511546594.006
Available formats
×