Scale-Free Networks

Many different systems both in nature and in technology can be described by means of networks of interconnected components. Despite their different aspects, all of them share similar mathematical properties. In this book we explain how to recognize these features and why these different systems develop this common structure.

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A variety of different social, natural, and technological systems can be described by the same mathematical framework. This holds from the Internet to food webs and to boards of company directors. In all these situations a graph of the elements of the system and their interconnections displays a universal feature. There are only few elements with many connections, and many elements with few connections. This book presents the experimental evidence of these 'scale-free networks' and provides students and researchers with a corpus of theoretical results and algorithms to analyse and understand these features. The content of this book and the exposition makes it a clear textbook for beginners, and a reference book for the experts.