2012/08/31 by Tiziano Squartini, Francesco Picciolo, Franco Ruzzenenti +1 · 141 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Binary number #Complex Network Analysis Techniques #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Reciprocal #Reciprocity (cultural anthropology) #Similarity (geometry) #Weighted network #cs.SI #physics.data-an #physics.soc-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/srep02729
published in Scientific Reports 3(1), 2729 (Nature Portfolio) · 21 pages, 7 figures, 1 table
arxiv created 2013/07/23 · openalex publication_date 2013/09/23 · arxiv updated 2014/01/14 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In directed networks, reciprocal links have dramatic effects on dynamical processes, network growth, and higher-order structures such as motifs and communities. While the reciprocity of binary networks has been extensively studied, that of weighted networks is still poorly understood, implying an ever-increasing gap between the availability of weighted network data and our understanding of their dyadic properties. Here we introduce a general approach to the reciprocity of weighted networks, and define quantities and null models that consistently capture empirical reciprocity patterns at different structural levels. We show that, counter-intuitively, previous reciprocity measures based on the similarity of mutual weights are uninformative. By contrast, our measures allow to consistently classify different weighted networks according to their reciprocity, track the evolution of a network's reciprocity over time, identify patterns at the level of dyads and vertices, and distinguish the effects of flux (im)balances or other (a)symmetries from a true tendency towards (anti-)reciprocation.