Watts and Strogatz

Watts and Strogatz are known for their groundbreaking work in network theory, specifically the concept of small-world networks. They showed that many real-world networks, like social connections or the internet, have a unique structure: most nodes are not directly connected, but any two nodes can be linked through a short path of connections. This idea helps explain phenomena like how information spreads quickly in society. Their model combines elements of regular networks and random connections, revealing how seemingly distant points can be closely linked, which has implications in various fields, including sociology, biology, and technology.