#ViewPoint Ever wondered how friendships form and spread—from friendships in school to networks on the internet?
Our world runs on invisible threads of connection, which Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Head of the Centre of Excellence on Sports Science and Analytics at
@iitmadras, explains in conversation with
@dt_next , that this invisible web of friendships — using the mathematics of social networks called graph theory, which researchers discovered that whether it’s friendships, the World Wide Web, or even airport systems, they all share a fascinating structure: a few highly connected “hubs” link many smaller nodes together.
This idea is explained by scientists Albert-László Barabási and Réka Albert in the Barabási-Albert method, as the preferential attachment, where new connections tend to link to already popular nodes. It’s why scale-free networks like Facebook or Instagram stay strong even when some links break unless a major hub disappears.
So, the next time you send a friend request or share a meme, remember — the universe loves to connect things in surprising, structured ways.
Read here:
dtnext.in/news/chennai/dt-ne….
#IITMadras #SocialNetworks #GraphTheory #ScienceSimplified