Preferential survival in models of complex ad hoc networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a preferential survival mechanism in network models, showing how degree-dependent node deletion influences the emergence of heavy-tailed power law networks, aligning with real-world web dynamics.

Contribution

It proposes a new degree-dependent node deletion process and analyzes its effects on network stability and degree distribution, extending existing models of network growth.

Findings

Preferential survival leads to heavy-tailed power law networks.

Coupling PS with PA mechanisms enhances network stability.

Network dynamics can be engineered for desired stability and degree distribution.

Abstract

There has been a rich interplay in recent years between (i) empirical investigations of real world dynamic networks, (ii) analytical modeling of the microscopic mechanisms that drive the emergence of such networks, and (iii) harnessing of these mechanisms to either manipulate existing networks, or engineer new networks for specific tasks. We continue in this vein, and study the deletion phenomenon in the web by following two different sets of web-sites (each comprising more than 150,000 pages) over a one-year period. Empirical data show that there is a significant deletion component in the underlying web networks, but the deletion process is not uniform. This motivates us to introduce a new mechanism of preferential survival (PS), where nodes are removed according to a degree-dependent deletion kernel. We use the mean-field rate equation approach to study a general dynamic model driven by Preferential Attachment (PA), Double PA (DPA), and a tunable PS, where c nodes (c<1) are deleted per node added to the network, and verify our predictions via large-scale simulations. One of our results shows that, unlike in the case of uniform deletion, the PS kernel when coupled with the standard PA mechanism, can lead to heavy-tailed power law networks even in the presence of extreme turnover in the network. Moreover, a weak DPA mechanism, coupled with PS, can help make the network even more heavy-tailed, especially in the limit when deletion and insertion rates are almost equal, and the overall network growth is minimal. The dynamics reported in this work can be used to design and engineer stable ad hoc networks and explain the stability of the power law exponents observed in real-world networks.