# Thresholding normally distributed data creates complex networks

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.08278 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.08278/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 21 Feb 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Network reconstruction via the minimum description length principle](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.01015/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Network data sets are often constructed by some kind of thresholding procedure. The resulting networks frequently possess properties such as heavy-tailed degree distributions, clustering, large connected components and short average shortest path lengths. These properties are considered typical of complex networks and appear in many contexts, prompting consideration of their universality. Here we introduce a simple model for correlated relational data and study the network ensemble obtained by thresholding it. We find that some, but not all, of the properties associated with complex networks can be seen after thresholding the correlated data, even though the underlying data are not "complex". In particular, we observe heavy-tailed degree distributions, a large numbers of triangles, and short path lengths, while we do not observe non-vanishing clustering or community structure.