Two universal physical principles shape the power-law statistics of real-world networks

TL;DR

This paper identifies two universal physical principles that explain the emergence and deviations of power-law distributions in real-world networks, offering a new paradigm for understanding their meso-scale structure.

Contribution

It introduces two fundamental physical principles that underpin complex network formation and explains deviations from ideal power laws, shifting the focus to meso-scale inference.

Findings

Universal principles predict power-law deviations

Deviations relate to meso-scale structures

Provides a new framework for network analysis

Abstract

The study of complex networks has pursued an understanding of macroscopic behavior by focusing on power-laws in microscopic observables. Here, we uncover two universal fundamental physical principles that are at the basis of complex networks generation. These principles together predict the generic emergence of deviations from ideal power laws, which were previously discussed away by reference to the thermodynamic limit. Our approach proposes a paradigm shift in the physics of complex networks, toward the use of power-law deviations to infer meso-scale structure from macroscopic observations.