Emergence of scale-free networks from ideal free distributions

¹  Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Ohio State University - Columbus, OH, 43210 USA
²  Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica, Universidad de los Andes - Bogota, Colombia

Corresponding authors: finkej@ece.osu.edu nquijano@uniandes.edu.co passino@ece.osu.edu

Received: 18 July 2007
Accepted: 20 February 2008

Abstract

This letter presents a class of network optimization processes that account for the emergence of scale-free network structures. We introduce a mathematical framework that captures the connectivity and growth dynamics of a network with an arbitrary initial topology. We show how selection via differential node fitness affects the proportion of connections a node makes to other nodes, and how a heavy-tailed connectivity behavior manifests itself from consecutive achievements of ideal free distributions (IFDs). Finally, we present simulation results that show how this class of networks may emerge even when consecutive IFDs are not perfectly reached.