Scaling of random walk betweenness in networks

Abstract

The betweenness centrality of graphs using random walk paths instead of geodesics is studied. A scaling collapse with no adjustable parameters is obtained as the graph size $N$ is varied; the scaling curve depends on the graph model. A normalized random betweenness, that counts each walk passing through a node only once, is also defined. It is argued to be more useful and seen to have simpler scaling behavior. In particular, the probability for a random walk on a preferential attachment graph to pass through the root node is found to tend to unity as $N\rightarrow\infty.$