Strong Attractors in Stochastic Adaptive Networks: Emergence and Characterization

Abstract

We propose a family of models to study the evolution of ties in a network of interacting agents by reinforcement and penalization of their connections according to certain local laws of interaction. The family of stochastic dynamical systems, on the edges of a graph, exhibits \emph{good} convergence properties, in particular, we prove a strong-stability result: a subset of binary matrices or graphs -- characterized by certain compatibility properties -- is a global almost sure attractor of the family of stochastic dynamical systems. To illustrate finer properties of the corresponding strong attractor, we present some simulation results that capture, e.g., the conspicuous phenomenon of emergence and downfall of leaders in social networks.