Evolutionary simulation of complex networks' structures with specific functional properties

Abstract

Thorough studies of technological and biological systems have revealed that the inherent networking structures of those systems possess similar topological properties, like node degree distribution or small-world effect, regardless of the context to which those systems are related. Based on that knowledge, there have been numerous attempts to develop models that capture particular topological properties of observed complex networks, although little attention has been paid to developing models with specific functional properties. The present paper proposes a method for the simulation of networks' structures with functional characteristics of interest using a heuristic evolutionary approach and utilizing a Simulated Annealing algorithm. An experimental study is carried out with a US air transportation network and synthetic social networks with known properties.