Growing Directed Networks: Organization and Dynamics

Abstract

We study the organization and dynamics of growing directed networks. These networks are built by adding nodes successively in such a way that each new node has $K$ directed links to the existing ones. The organization of a growing directed network is analyzed in terms of the number of ``descendants'' of each node in the network. We show that the distribution $P(S)$ of the size, $S$, of the descendant cluster is described generically by a power-law, $P(S) \sim S^{-\eta}$, where the exponent $\eta$ depends on the value of $K$ as well as the strength of preferential attachment. We determine that, in the case of growing random directed networks without any preferential attachment, $\eta$ is given by $1+1/K$. We also show that the Boolean dynamics of these networks is stable for any value of $K$. However, with a small fraction of reversal in the direction of the links, the dynamics of growing directed networks appears to operate on ``the edge of chaos'' with a power-law distribution of the cycle lengths. We suggest that the growing directed network may serve as another paradigm for the emergence of the scale-free features in network organization and dynamics.