#networks

Topics tagged "networks".

• Graph

  A set of nodes joined by edges — the minimal mathematical object for describing relationships of any kind.

• Breadth-First Search

  Explore a graph in concentric layers from a source — the simplest way to find shortest paths in an unweighted graph.

• Depth-First Search

  Plunge as deep as possible along each branch, then backtrack — the traversal behind spanning trees, cycle detection, and topological order.

• Dijkstra's Algorithm

  Find the cheapest route in a weighted graph by greedily settling the nearest unfinished node, one at a time.

• Graph Theory & Networks

  Nodes joined by edges are the universal skeleton of connection — friendships, roads, neurons, and the web all reduce to the same simple picture.

• Minimum Spanning Tree

  The cheapest set of edges that connects every node of a weighted graph without forming a loop.

• PageRank

  A node's importance is the long-run chance a random surfer following links lands on it — the dominant eigenvector of the link matrix.

• Centrality

  A family of measures that score which nodes matter most in a network — by connections, by bridging, or by closeness.

• Small-World Network

  Networks that are richly clustered yet only a few steps across — the structure behind "six degrees of separation."

• Scale-Free Network

  Networks dominated by a few enormous hubs, grown by "the rich get richer" and obeying a power-law degree distribution.