02.14, Tuesday 22 Apr 2003

Small world systems and power laws. This paper reviews some early papers about "small worlds" -- what they are, and how they arise. Social networks are often small worlds: you can connect yourself to any other person through a surprisingly small number of steps, given you don't already know everyone! Also explored is how to search such a network if you only have local knowledge: ie, who you are connected to by the first or second degree and nothing else.