Complex networks generated by the Penna bit-string model: Emergence of small-world and assortative mixing

Abstract

The Penna bit-string model successfully encompasses many phenomena of population evolution, including inheritance, mutation, evolution and ageing. If we consider social interactions among individuals in the Penna model, the population will form a complex network. In this paper, we first modify the Verhulst factor to control only the birth rate, and introduce activity-based preferential reproduction of offspring in the Penna model. The social interactions among individuals are generated by both inheritance and activity-based preferential increase. Then we study the properties of the complex network generated by the modified Penna model. We find that the resulting complex network has a small-world effect and the assortative mixing property.