Remaining popular: power-law regularities in network dynamics

Abstract The structure of networks has been a focal research topic over the past few decades. These research efforts have enabled the discovery of numerous structural patterns and regularities, bringing forth advancements in many fields. In particular, the ubiquitous power-law patterns evident in de...

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Main Authors: Shahar Somin, Yaniv Altshuler, Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland, Erez Shmueli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2022-12-01
Series:EPJ Data Science
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00373-3
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author Shahar Somin
Yaniv Altshuler
Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland
Erez Shmueli
author_facet Shahar Somin
Yaniv Altshuler
Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland
Erez Shmueli
author_sort Shahar Somin
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The structure of networks has been a focal research topic over the past few decades. These research efforts have enabled the discovery of numerous structural patterns and regularities, bringing forth advancements in many fields. In particular, the ubiquitous power-law patterns evident in degree distributions, graph eigenvalues and human mobility patterns have provided the opportunity to model many different complex systems. However, regularities in the dynamical patterns of networks remain a considerably less explored terrain. In this study we examine the dynamics of networks, focusing on stability characteristics of node popularity, and present our results using various empirical datasets. Specifically, we address several intriguing questions – for how long are popular nodes expected to remain so? How much time is expected to pass between two consecutive popularity periods? What characterizes nodes which manage to maintain their popularity for long periods of time? Surprisingly, we find that such temporal aspects are governed by a power-law regime, and that these power-law regularities are equally likely across all node ages.
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spelling doaj.art-98d44975eee54edab13ef00549be6e942022-12-22T03:01:56ZengSpringerOpenEPJ Data Science2193-11272022-12-0111111410.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00373-3Remaining popular: power-law regularities in network dynamicsShahar Somin0Yaniv Altshuler1Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland2Erez Shmueli3Department of Industrial Engineering, Tel Aviv UniversityMIT Media LabMIT Media LabDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Tel Aviv UniversityAbstract The structure of networks has been a focal research topic over the past few decades. These research efforts have enabled the discovery of numerous structural patterns and regularities, bringing forth advancements in many fields. In particular, the ubiquitous power-law patterns evident in degree distributions, graph eigenvalues and human mobility patterns have provided the opportunity to model many different complex systems. However, regularities in the dynamical patterns of networks remain a considerably less explored terrain. In this study we examine the dynamics of networks, focusing on stability characteristics of node popularity, and present our results using various empirical datasets. Specifically, we address several intriguing questions – for how long are popular nodes expected to remain so? How much time is expected to pass between two consecutive popularity periods? What characterizes nodes which manage to maintain their popularity for long periods of time? Surprisingly, we find that such temporal aspects are governed by a power-law regime, and that these power-law regularities are equally likely across all node ages.https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00373-3
spellingShingle Shahar Somin
Yaniv Altshuler
Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland
Erez Shmueli
Remaining popular: power-law regularities in network dynamics
EPJ Data Science
title Remaining popular: power-law regularities in network dynamics
title_full Remaining popular: power-law regularities in network dynamics
title_fullStr Remaining popular: power-law regularities in network dynamics
title_full_unstemmed Remaining popular: power-law regularities in network dynamics
title_short Remaining popular: power-law regularities in network dynamics
title_sort remaining popular power law regularities in network dynamics
url https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00373-3
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AT alexsandypentland remainingpopularpowerlawregularitiesinnetworkdynamics
AT erezshmueli remainingpopularpowerlawregularitiesinnetworkdynamics