title: Models of social networks based on social distance attachment.
abstract: We propose a class of models of social network formation based on a mathematical abstraction of the concept of social distance. Social distance attachment is represented by the tendency of peers to establish acquaintances via a decreasing function of the relative distance in a representative social space. We derive analytical results (corroborated by extensive numerical simulations), showing that the model reproduces the main statistical characteristics of real social networks: large clustering coefficient, positive degree correlations, and the emergence of a hierarchy of communities. The model is confronted with the social network formed by people that shares confidential information using the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption algorithm, the so-called web of trust of PGP.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Física Fonamental, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marián
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boguñá
authors.forename: Romualdo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pastor-Satorras
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Díaz-Guilera
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arenas
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008954:Models, Biological; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012919:Social Behavior; D012922:Social Change; D012944:Social Support