Geometric evolution of complex networks with degree correlations
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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Divergence of Root Microbiota in Different Habitats based on Weighted Correlation Networks
Published on: September 25, 2021
Charles Murphy1, Antoine Allard1,2,3, Edward Laurence1
1Département de Physique, de Génie Physique, et d'Optique, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6.
Abstract:
We present a general class of geometric network growth mechanisms by homogeneous attachment in which the links created at a given time t are distributed homogeneously between a new node and the existing nodes selected uniformly. This is achieved by creating links between nodes uniformly distributed in a homogeneous metric space according to a Fermi-Dirac connection probability with inverse temperature β and general time-dependent chemical potential μ(t). The chemical potential limits the spatial extent of newly created links. Using a hidden variable framework, we obtain an analytical expression for the degree sequence and show that μ(t) can be fixed to yield any given degree distributions, including a scale-free degree distribution. Additionally, we find that depending on the order in which nodes appear in the network-its history-the degree-degree correlations can be tuned to be assortative or disassortative. The effect of the geometry on the structure is investigated through the average clustering coefficient 〈c〉. In the thermodynamic limit, we identify a phase transition between a random regime where 〈c〉→0 when β<β_{c} and a geometric regime where 〈c〉>0 when β>β_{c}.
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