A system of mobile agents to model social networks

M. C. Gonzalez; P. G. Lind; H. J. Herrmann

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.96.088702

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A system of mobile agents to model social networks

M. C. Gonzalez·P. G. Lind·H. J. Herrmann

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Abstract

We propose a model of mobile agents to construct social networks, based on a system of moving particles by keeping track of the collisions during their permanence in the system. We reproduce not only the degree distribution, clustering coefficient and shortest path length of a large data base of empirical friendship networks recently collected, but also some features related with their community structure. The model is completely characterized by the collision rate and above a critical collision rate we find the emergence of a giant cluster in the universality class of two-dimensional percolation. Moreover, we propose possible schemes to reproduce other networks of particular social contacts, namely sexual contacts.

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BibTeX RIS

M. C. Gonzalez, P. G. Lind, H. J. Herrmann. 2006-02-14. A system of mobile agents to model social networks. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.96.088702

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