Mixing patterns

Obviously, the particular node characteristics involved in the process of creating a link between a pair will shape a network's mixing patterns.

Examining different sets of node characteristics thus may reveal interesting communities or other structural properties of the network.

While the number of real-world node characteristics is virtually unlimited, they tend to fall under two headings: discrete and scalar/topological.

For each category, the models of assortatively mixed networks introduced by Newman are discussed in brief.

[2][3][4] These articles find a strong connection between Mixing patterns and the rate of disease spread.