The trapping problem and the average shortest weighted path of the weighted pseudofractal scale-free networks

Abstract

In this paper, we study the trapping time in the weighted pseudofractal scale-free networks (WPSFNs) and the average shortest weighted path in the modified weighted pseudofractal scale-free networks (MWPSFNs) with the weight factor [Formula: see text]. At first, for exceptional case with the trap fixed at a hub node for weight-dependent walk, we derive the exact analytic formulas of the trapping time through the structure of WPSFNs. The obtained rigorous solution shows that the trapping time approximately grows as a power-law function of the number of network nodes with the exponent represented by [Formula: see text]. Then, we deduce the scaling expression of the average shortest weighted path through the iterative process of the construction of MWPSFNs. The obtained rigorous solution shows that the scalings of average shortest weighted path with network size obey three laws along with the range of the weight factor. We provide a theoretical study of the trapping time for weight-dependent walk and the average shortest weighted path in a wide range of deterministic weighted networks.