Random walks and diffusion on networks
dev.to·4d·
Discuss: DEV
📊Citation Graphs
Preview
Report Post

How Random Walks and Diffusion Reveal Secrets of Networks

Think of clicking through web pages or animals wandering in a forest — that’s a simple picture of random walks. They shows how things drift, spread, or bump into each other across a web of links. By watching many short, simple steps researchers can spot who or what matters most, or where groups gather, even when the map is messy.

These tiny moves also explain diffusion—how ideas, rumors, or infections flow. On big maps of people and places, called networks, that flow can point to hidden hubs and close-knit clusters that otherwise stay unseen. Tools inspired by this idea power features like PageRank that sorts important pages, and they help find communities or track how opinions drift. It sounds small, but…

Similar Posts

Loading similar posts...

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation
Next / previous item
j/k
Open post
oorEnter
Preview post
v
Post Actions
Love post
a
Like post
l
Dislike post
d
Undo reaction
u
Recommendations
Add interest / feed
Enter
Not interested
x
Go to
Home
gh
Interests
gi
Feeds
gf
Likes
gl
History
gy
Changelog
gc
Settings
gs
Browse
gb
Search
/
General
Show this help
?
Submit feedback
!
Close modal / unfocus
Esc

Press ? anytime to show this help