Emergent Network Modularity

Abstract

We introduce a network growth model based on complete redirection: a new node randomly selects an existing target node, but attaches to a random neighbor of this target. For undirected networks, this simple growth rule generates unusual, highly modular networks. Individual network realizations typically contain multiple macrohubs---nodes whose degree scales linearly with the number of nodes $N$. The size of the network "nucleus"---the set of nodes of degree greater than one---grows sublinearly with $N$ and thus constitutes a vanishingly small fraction of the network. The network therefore consists almost entirely of leaves (nodes of degree one) as $N\to\infty$.