Networks grow and evolve by local events, such as the addition of new nodes and links, or rewiring of links from one node to another. We show that depending on the frequency of these processes two topologically different networks can emerge, the connectivity distribution following either a generalized power law or an exponential. We propose a continuum theory that predicts these two regimes as well as the scaling function and the exponents, in good agreement with numerical results. Finally, we use the obtained predictions to fit the connectivity distribution of the network describing the professional links between movie actors.

• Received 7 December 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.5234