The fractal/small-world dichotomy in real-world networks

Gábor Csányi, Balázs Szendröi

Published 2004-06-03Version 1

We draw attention to a clear dichotomy between small-world networks exhibiting exponential neighborhood growth, and fractal-like networks where neighborhoods grow according to a power law. This distinction is observed in a number of real-world networks, and is related to the degree correlations and geographical constraints. We conclude by pointing out that the status of human social networks in this dichotomy is far from clear.