What does "Barabási-Albert Graphs" mean?
Table of Contents
Barabási-Albert graphs are a type of network that is used to model how certain kinds of systems grow over time. These systems can include social networks, the internet, and many other types of connections.
How They Work
The main idea behind Barabási-Albert graphs is that new connections are made more likely to connect to nodes that are already well-connected. This means that popular nodes get even more connections as the network grows.
Key Features
Scale-Free: Many real-world networks have a few popular nodes with lots of connections and many nodes with just a few connections. This is called a scale-free property.
Growth: The network starts with a small number of nodes and grows over time as more nodes are added.
Preferential Attachment: New nodes tend to attach to existing nodes that already have a lot of connections, which creates a hub-like structure.
Applications
Barabási-Albert graphs help researchers understand the structure of networks in fields like biology, sociology, and computer science. They can show how information spreads and how certain nodes become very important in a network.