---
abstract: 'We discuss three related models of scale-free networks with the same degree distribution but different correlation properties. Starting from the Barabasi-Albert construction based on growth and preferential attachment we discuss two other networks emerging when randomizing it with respect to links or nodes. We point out that the Barabasi-Albert model displays dissortative behavior with respect to the nodes’ degrees, while the node-randomized network shows assortative mixing. These kinds of correlations are visualized by discussig the shell structure of the networks around their arbitrary node. In spite of different correlation behavior, all three constructions exhibit similar percolation properties.'
address:
- '$^1$Institut für Physik, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Invalidenstraße 110, D-10115 Berlin, Germany'
- '$^2$Theoretische Polymerphysik, Universität Freiburg, Hermann Herder Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany'
author:
- 'R. Xulvi-Brunet$^1$, W. Pietsch$^1$, and I.M. Sokolov$^{1,2}$'
title: 'Correlations in Scale-Free Networks: Tomography and Percolation'
---

[2]{}

Introduction {#introduction .unnumbered}
============

Scale-free networks, i.e. networks with power-law degree distributions, have recently been widely studied (see Refs. [@baretalb; @dorogov] for a review). Such degree distributions have been found in many different contexts, for example in several technological webs like the Internet [@int; @past], the WWW [@www2; @WWW], or electrical power grids [@Wa], in natural networks like the network of chemical reactions in the living cell [@Oltvai; @Fell; @Mason] and also in social networks, like the network of human sexual contacts [@sex], the science [@New1; @New2] and the movie actor [@Am; @Alb] collaboration networks, or the network of the phone calls [@phonecall].

The topology of networks is essential for the spread of information or infections, as well as for the robustness of networks against intentional attack or random breakdown of elements. Recent studies have focused on a more detailed topological characterization of networks, in particular, in the degree correlations among nodes [@past; @Newm; @Berg; @Egui; @Bo; @mas; @Vaz; @Goh; @Bog; @NE; @Serr]. For instance, many technological and biological networks show that nodes with high degree connect preferably to nodes with low degree [@past; @mas], a property referred to as disassortative mixing. On the other hand, social networks show assortative mixing [@Newm; @NE], i.e. highly connected nodes are preferably connected to nodes with high degree.

In this paper we shall study some aspects of this topology, specifically the importance of the degree correlations, in three related models of scale-free networks and concentrate on the two important characteristics: the tomography of shell structure around an arbitrary node, and percolation.

The Models {#the-models .unnumbered}
==========

Our starting model is the one of Barabasi and Albert (BA) [@BA-model], based on the growth algorithm with preferential attachment. Starting from an arbitrary set of initial nodes, at each time step a new node is added to the network. This node brings with it $m$ proper links which are connected to $m$ nodes already present. The latter are chosen according to the preferential attachment prescription: The probability that a new link connects to a certain node is proportional to the degree (number of links) of that node. The resulting degree distribution of such networks tends to [@Redner; @degdis; @Kra]: $$P(k)=\frac{2m(m+1)}{k(k+1)(k+2)} \sim k^{-3}.  \label{degdis}$$ Krapivsky and Redner [@Kra] have shown that in the BA-construction correlations develop spontaneously between the degrees of connected nodes. To assess the role of such correlations we shall randomize the BA-network.

Recently Maslov and Sneppen [@mas] have suggested an algorithm radomitzing a given network that keeps the degree distribution constant. According to this algorithm at each step two links of the network are chosen at random. Then, one end of each link is selected randomly and the attaching nodes are interchanged. However, in case one or both of these new links already exits in the network, this step is discarded and a new pair of edges is selected. This restriction prevents the apparearance of multiple edges connecting the same pair of nodes. A repeated application of the rewiring step leads to a randomized version of the original network. We shall refer to this model as link-randomized (LR) model.

The LR model can be compared with another model which is widely studied in the context of scale-free networks, namely with the configuration model introduced by Bender and Canfield [@cand; @mollreed]. It starts with a given number $N$ of nodes and assigning to each node a number $k_i$ of “edge stubs” equal to its desired connectivity. The stubs of different nodes are then connected randomly to each other; two connected stubs form a link. One of the limitations of this “stub reconnection” algorithm is that for broad distribution of connectivities, which is usually the case in complex networks, the algorithm generates multiple edges joining the same pair of hub nodes and loops connecting the node to itself. However, the cofiguration model and the LR model get equivalent as $ N\rightarrow \infty $.

One can also consider a node-randomized (NR) counterpart of the LR randomize procedure. The only difference to the link-radomized algorithm is that instead of choosing randomly two links we choose randomly two nodes in the network. Then the procedure is the same as in the LR model.

As we proceed to show, the three models have different properties with respect to the correlations between the degrees of connected nodes. While the LR (configuration) model is random, the genuine BA prescription leads to a network which is dissortative with respect to the degrees of connected nodes, and the NR model leads to an assortative network. This fact leads to considerable differences in the shell structure of the networks and also to some (not extremely large) differences in their percolation characteristics. We hasten to note that our simple models neglect many important aspects of real networks like geography [@Soki; @geog] but stress the importance to consider the higher correlations in the degrees of connected nodes.

Tomography of the Networks {#shell structure .unnumbered}
==========================

Referring to spreading of computer viruses or human diseases, it is necessary to know how many sites get infected on each step of the infection propagation. Thus, we examine the local structure in the network. Cohen et al. [@tomography] examined the shells around the node with the highest degree in the network. In our study we start from a node chosen at random. This initial node (the root) is assigned to shell number 0. Then all links starting at this node are followed. All nodes reached are assigned to shell number 1. Then all links leaving a node in shell 1 are followed and all nodes reached that don’t belong to previous shells are labelled as nodes of shell 2. The same is carried out for shell 2 etc., until the whole network is exhausted. We then get $N_{l,r}$, the number of nodes in shell $l$ for root $r$. The whole procedure is repeated starting at all $%
N $ nodes in the network, giving $P_{l}(k)$, the degree distribution in shell $l$. We define $P_{l}(k)$ as: $$P_{l}(k)=\frac{\sum_{r} N_{l,r}(k)}{\sum_{k,r} N_{l,r}(k)}. \label{aa}$$

We are most interested in the average degree $\langle k\rangle
_{l}=\sum_{k}kP_{l}(k)$ of nodes of the shell $l$. In the epidemiological context, this quantity can be interpreted as a disease multiplication factor after $l$ steps of propagation. It describes how many neighbors a node can infect on average. Note that such a definition of $P_{l}(k)$ gives us for the degree distribution in the first shell: $$P_{1}(k)=\frac{\sum_{r} N_{1,r}(k)}{\sum_{k,r} N_{1,r}(k)}=
   \frac{kN_k}{\sum_k kN_k}=\frac{kP(k)}{\langle k \rangle},  \label{bb}$$ where $P(k)$ and $N_k$ are the degree distribution and the number of nodes with degree $k$ in the network respectively. We bear in mind that every link in the network is followed exactly once in each direction. Hence, we find that every node with degree $k$ is counted exactly $k$ times. From Eq.($\ref{bb}$) follows that $\langle k\rangle _{1}=\langle k^{2}\rangle / \langle k\rangle$. This quatity, that plays a very important role in the percolation theory of networks [@cohetal], depends only on the first and second moment of the degree distribution, but not on the correlations. Of course $P_0(k)=P(k)$.

Note that as $N\rightarrow \infty $ we have $\langle k^{2}\rangle
\rightarrow \infty $: for our scale-free constructions the mean degree in shell 1 depends significantly on the network size determining the cutoff in the degree distribution. However, the values of $\langle k\rangle _{1}$ are the same for all three models: The first two shells are determined only by the degree distributions. In all other shells the three models differ. For the LR (configuration) model one finds for all shells in the thermodynamic limit $P_{l}(k)=P_{1}(k)$. However, since these distributions do not possess finite means, the values of $\langle k\rangle _{l}$ are governed by the finite-size cutoff, which is different in different shells, since the network is practically exhausted within the first few steps, see Fig.1.

In what follows we compare the shell structure of the BA, the LR and the NR models. We discuss in detail the networks based on the BA-construction with $m=2$. For larger $m$ the same qualitative results were observed. In the present work we refrain from discussion of a peculiar case $m=1$. For $m=1$ the topology of the BA-model is distinct from one for $m\geq 2$ since in this case the network is a tree. This connected tree is destroyed by the randomization procedure and is transformed into a set of disconnected clusters. On the other hand, for $m\geq 2$ the creation of large separate clusters under randomization is rather unprobable, so that most of the nodes stay connected. Fig. \[fig1\] shows $\langle k\rangle $ as a function of the shell number $l$. Panel (a) corresponds to the BA model, panel (b) to the LR model, and panel (c) to the NR model. The different curves show simulations for different network sizes: $N=3,000$; $N=10,000$; $N=30,000$; and $N=100,000$. All points are averaged over ten different realizations except for those for networks of 100,000 nodes with only one simulation. In panel (d) we compare the shell-structure for all three models at $N=30,000$. The most significant feature of the graphs is the difference in $\langle k \rangle _{2}$. In the BA and LR models the maximum is reached in the first shell, while for the NR model the maximum is reached only in the second shell: $\langle k\rangle_{2,BA}<\langle k\rangle _{2,LR}<\langle k\rangle _{2,NR}$. This effect becomes more pronounced with increasing network size. In shells with large $l$ for all networks mostly nodes with the lowest degree $2$ are found.

The inset in graph (a) of Fig. \[fig1\] shows the relation between average age $\eta$ of nodes with connectivy $k$ in the network as a function of their degree for the BA model. The age of a node $n$ and of any of its proper links is defined as $\eta (n)=(N-t_{n})/N$ where $t_{n}$ denotes the time of birth of the node. For the randomized LR and NR models age has no meaning. The figure shows a strong correlation between age and degree of a node. The reasons for these strong correlations are as follows: First, older nodes experienced more time-steps than younger ones and thus have larger probability to acquire non-proper bonds. Moreover, at earlier times there are less nodes in the network, so that the probability of acquiring a new link per time step for an individual node is even higher. Third, at later time-steps older nodes already tend to have higher degrees than younger ones, so the probability for them to acquire new links is considerably larger due to preferential attachment. The correlations between the age and the degree bring some nontrivial aspects into the BA model based on growth, which are erased when randomizing the network.

Let us discuss the degree distribution in the second shell. In this case we find as that every link leaving a node of degree $k$ is counted $k-1$ times. Let $P(l|k)$ be a probability that a link leaving a node of degree $k$ enters a node with degree $l$. Neglecting the possibility of short loops (which is always appropriate in the thermodynamical limit $N \rightarrow \infty$) and the inherent direction of links (which may be not totally appropriate for the BA-model) we have: $$P_{2}(l)=\frac{\sum_k kP(k)(k-1)P(l|k)}{\sum_{k}kP(k)(k-1)}.  \label{P2}
%P_{2}(l)=\sum_{k}\left[ \frac{kP(k)(k-1)P(l|k)}{\sum_{k}kP(k)(k-1)}%
%\right] .  \label{P2}$$

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The value of $\langle k\rangle _{2}$ gives important information about the type of mixing in the network. To study mixing in networks one needs to divide the nodes into groups with identical properties. The only relevant characteristics of the nodes that is present in all three models, is their degree. Thus, we can examine the degree-correlations between neighboring nodes, which we compare with the uncorrelated LR model, where the probability that a link connects to a node with a certain degree is independent from whatever is attached to the other end of the link: $P(k | l)=kP(k)/\langle k\rangle =kP(k)/2m$. All other relations would correspond to assortative or disassortative mixing. Qualitatively, assortativity then means that nodes attach to nodes with similar degree more likely than in the LR-model: $P(k | l)>P(k | l)_{LR}=kP(k) / \langle k\rangle$ for $k\approx l$. Dissortativity means that nodes attach to nodes with very different degree more likely than in the LR-model: $P(k | l)> kP(k) / \langle k\rangle $ for $k\gg l$ or $l\gg k$. Inserting this in Eq.(\[P2\]), and calculating the mean, one finds qualitatively that $\langle k \rangle _{1}=\langle k\rangle _{2,LR}<\langle k\rangle _{2}$ for assortativity, and $\langle k\rangle _{1}>\langle k\rangle _{2}$ for dissortativity.

In the following we show where the correlations of the BA and NR model originate. A consequence of the BA-algorithm is that there are two different types of ends for the links. Each node has exactly $m$ proper links attached to it at the moment of its birth and a certain number of links that are attached later. Since each node receives the same number of links at its birth, towards the proper nodes a link encounters a node with degree $k$ with probability $P(k)$. To compensate for this, in the other direction a node with degree $k$ is encountered with the probability $\frac{(k-m)P(k)}{m}
=2\frac{kP(k)}{\langle k\rangle }-P(k)$, so that both distributions together yield $kP(k)/\langle k\rangle $. On one end of the link nodes with small degree are predominant: $P(k)<kP(k)/\langle k\rangle $ for small $k$. On the other end nodes with high degree are predominant: $(k-m)P(k)/m>kP(k)/2m$ for $k$ large. This corresponds to dissortativity. Actually the situation is somewhat more complex since in the BA model these probability distributions also depend on the age of the link.

Assortativity of the NR model is a result of the node-randomizing process. Since the nodes with smaller degree are predominant in the node population, those links are preferably chosen that have on the end with the randomly chosen node a node with a smaller degree ($P(k)>kP(k)/\langle k\rangle $ for $k$ small). Then the randomization algorithm exchanges the links and connects those nodes to each other. This leads to assortativity for nodes with small degree, which is compensated by assortativity for nodes with high degree.

Percolation {#percolation .unnumbered}
===========

Percolation properties of networks are relevant when discussing their vulnerability to attack or immunization which removes nodes or links from the network. For scale-free networks random percolation as well as vulnerability to a deliberate attack have been studied by several groups [@cohetal; @ben; @je; @cohetal2; @callnew]. One considers the removal of a certain fraction of edges or nodes in a network. Our simulations correspond to the node removal model; $q$ is the fraction of removed nodes. Below the percolation threshold $q<q_{c}$ a giant component (infinite cluster) exists, which ceases to exist above the threshold. A giant component, and consequently $q_{c}$ is exactly defined only in the thermodynamic limit $ N\rightarrow \infty $: it is a cluster, to which a nonzero fraction of all nodes belongs.

In [@mollreed] and [@cohetal] a condition for the percolation transition in random networks has been discussed: Every node already connected to the spanning cluster is connected to at least one new node. Ref. [@cohetal] gives the following percolation criterion for the configuration model: $$1-q_{c}=\frac{\langle k\rangle }{\langle k^{2}\rangle -\langle k\rangle },
\label{condperc}$$ where the means correspond to an unperturbed network ($q=0$). For networks with degree distribution Eq.($\ref{degdis}$), $\langle k^{2}\rangle $ diverges as $N \rightarrow \infty$. This yields for the random networks with a such degree distribution a percolation threshold $q_{c}=1$ in the thermodinamic limit, independent of the minimal degree $m$; in the epidemiological terms this corresponds to the absence of herd immunities in such systems. Crucial for this threshold is the power-law tail of the degree distribution with an exponent $\leq 3$. Moreover, Ref. [@ben] shows that the critical exponent $\beta $ governing the fraction of nodes $M_{\infty }$ of the giant component, $M_{\infty }\propto (q_{c}-q)^{\beta }$, diverges as the exponent of the degree distribution approaches $-3$. Therefore $M_{\infty }$ approaches zero with zero slope as $q\rightarrow 1$.

In Fig. \[fig2\] we plotted for the three models discussed $M_{\infty }$ as a function of $q$. The behavior of all three models for a network size of $300,000$ nodes is presented in panel (a). In the inset the size of the giant component was measured in relation to the number of nodes remaining in the network $(1-q)N$ and not to their initial number $N$. Other panels show the percolation behavior of each of the models at different network sizes: Panel (b) corresponds to the BA model, (c) to the LR model, and (d) to the NR model. For the largest networks with $N=300,000$ nodes we calculated 5 realizations for each model, for those with $30,000$; $10,000$; and $3,000$ nodes averaging over 10 realization was performed. For all three models within the error bars the curves at different network sizes coincide. This shows that even the smallest network is already close to the thermodynamical limit. R. Albert et al. have found a similar behavior in a study of BA-networks [@je]. They analyze networks of sizes $N=1000, 5000$ and $20000$ concluding “that the overall clustering scenario and the value of the critical point is independent of the size of the system”.

In the simulations we find two regimes: for moderate $q$ we find, that the sizes of the giant components of the BA, LR, and NR model obey the inequalities $M_{\infty ,BA}>M_{\infty ,LR}>M_{\infty ,NR}$ , while for $q$ close to unity the inequalities are reverted: $M_{\infty
,BA}<M_{\infty ,LR}<M_{\infty ,NR}$. However, in this regime the differences between $M_{\infty ,BA},M_{\infty ,LR}$ and $M_{\infty ,NR}$ are subtle and hardly resolved on the scales of Fig. 2. We note that similar situation was observed in Ref. [@Newm]. However, there the size of the giant cluster was measured not as a function of $q$ but of a scaling parameter in the degree distribution.

The observed effects can be explained by the correlations in the network. For $q=0$ one has $M_{\infty,BA}=M_{\infty ,LR}=M_{\infty ,NR}$. Now, the probability that single nodes loose their connection to the giant cluster depends only on the degree distribution, and not on correlations. So, the difference in the $M_{\infty}$ must be explained by the break-off of clusters containing more than one node. The probability for such an event is smaller in the BA than in the LR model, since dissortativity implies that one finds fewer ’regions’, where only nodes with low degree are present.

However, when we get to the region of large $q$, as nodes with low degree act as ’bridges’ between the nodes with high degree, the connections between the nodes with high degree are weaker in the case of the BA model than in the case of the LR model. So, the probability that nodes with high degree break off is higher for the BA model than for the LR model. There is no robust core of high-degree nodes in the network [@Newm]. The correlation effects for the NR model, when compared with the LR model, are opposite to those for the BA model.

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Conclusion {#conclusion .unnumbered}
==========

We consider three different models of scale-free networks: the genuine Barabasi-Albert construction based on growth and preferential attachment, and two networks emerging when randomizing it with respect to links or nodes. We point out that the BA model shows dissortative behavior with respect to the nodes’ degrees, while the node-randomized network shows assortative mixing. However, these strong differences in the shell structure lead only to moderate quantitative difference in the percolation behavior of the networks.

Acknowledgment {#acknowledgment .unnumbered}
==============

Partial financial support of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie is gratefully acknowledged.

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