title: Efficient behavior of small-world networks.
abstract: We introduce the concept of efficiency of a network as a measure of how efficiently it exchanges information. By using this simple measure, small-world networks are seen as systems that are both globally and locally efficient. This gives a clear physical meaning to the concept of "small world," and also a precise quantitative analysis of both weighted and unweighted networks. We study neural networks and man-made communication and transportation systems and we show that the underlying general principle of their construction is in fact a small-world principle of high efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques, Université Paris-Sud, Batiment 100, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Latora
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marchiori
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008959:Models, Neurological; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012944:Social Support; D014186:Transportation