Properties of weighted complex networks

TL;DR

This paper investigates properties of weighted small-world and scale-free networks where link weights depend on node degrees, analyzing their structural characteristics and epidemic spreading dynamics using the SI model.

Contribution

It introduces a model where link weights depend on node degrees and studies their impact on network properties and epidemic spreading behavior.

Findings

Both networks exhibit broad distributions of link weights and vertex strengths.

Spreading velocity peaks quickly and then decays exponentially.

Weighted networks influence epidemic dynamics significantly.

Abstract

We study two kinds of weighted networks, weighted small-world (WSW) and weighted scale-free (WSF). The weight $w_{ij}$ of a link between nodes $i$ and $j$ in the network is defined as the product of endpoint node degrees; that is $w_{ij}=(k_{i}k_{j})^{\theta}$. In contrast to adding weights to links during networks being constructed, we only consider weights depending on the `` popularity\rq\rq of the nodes represented by their connectivity. It was found that the both weighted networks have broad distributions on characterization the link weight, vertex strength, and average shortest path length. Furthermore, as a survey of the model, the epidemic spreading process in both weighted networks was studied based on the standard \emph{susceptible-infected} (SI) model. The spreading velocity reaches a peak very quickly after the infection outbreaks and an exponential decay was found in the long time propagation.