dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaScale Invariance in Road Networks
| Authors | Vamsi Kalapala, Vishal Sanwalani, Aaron Clauset, Cristopher Moore |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0510198 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0510198 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevE.73.026130 |
| Journal | Phys. Rev. E 73, 026130 (2006) |
Abstract
We study the topological and geographic structure of the national road networks of the United States, England and Denmark. By transforming these networks into their dual representation, where roads are vertices and an edge connects two vertices if the corresponding roads ever intersect, we show that they exhibit both topological and geographic scale invariance. That is, we show that for sufficiently large geographic areas, the dual degree distribution follows a power law with exponent 2.2 < alpha < 2.4, and that journeys, regardless of their length, have a largely identical structure. To explain these properties, we introduce and analyze a simple fractal model of road placement that reproduces the observed structure, and suggests a testable connection between the scaling exponent alpha and the fractal dimensions governing the placement of roads and intersections.
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"abstract": "We study the topological and geographic structure of the national road\nnetworks of the United States, England and Denmark. By transforming these\nnetworks into their dual representation, where roads are vertices and an edge\nconnects two vertices if the corresponding roads ever intersect, we show that\nthey exhibit both topological and geographic scale invariance. That is, we show\nthat for sufficiently large geographic areas, the dual degree distribution\nfollows a power law with exponent 2.2 \u003c alpha \u003c 2.4, and that journeys,\nregardless of their length, have a largely identical structure. To explain\nthese properties, we introduce and analyze a simple fractal model of road\nplacement that reproduces the observed structure, and suggests a testable\nconnection between the scaling exponent alpha and the fractal dimensions\ngoverning the placement of roads and intersections.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0510198",
"authors": [
"Vamsi Kalapala",
"Vishal Sanwalani",
"Aaron Clauset",
"Cristopher Moore"
],
"categories": [
"physics.soc-ph",
"physics.data-an"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevE.73.026130",
"journal_ref": "Phys. Rev. E 73, 026130 (2006)",
"title": "Scale Invariance in Road Networks",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0510198"
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