Abstract
Many complex human and natural phenomena can usefully be represented as
networks describing the relationships between individuals. While these
relationships are typically intermittent, previous research has used network
representations that aggregate the relationships at discrete intervals.
However, such an aggregation discards important temporal information, thus
inhibiting our understanding of the networks dynamic behaviour and evolution.
We have recorded patterns of human urban encounter using Bluetooth technology
thus retaining the temporal properties of this network. Here we show how this
temporal information influences the structural properties of the network. We
show that the temporal properties of human urban encounter are scale-free,
leading to an overwhelming proportion of brief encounters between individuals.
While previous research has shown preferential attachment to result in
scale-free connectivity in aggregated network data, we found that scale-free
connectivity results from the temporal properties of the network. In addition,
we show that brief encounters act as weak social ties in the diffusion of
non-expiring information, yet persistent encounters provide the means for
sustaining time-expiring information through a network.
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