Scale-free properties of weighted networks with connectivity-driven topology

The rate equations are used to study the scale-free behavior of the weight distribution in evolving networks whose topology is determined only by degrees of preexisting vertices. An analysis of these equations shows that the degree distribution and thereby the weight distribution remain unchanged when the probability rate of attaching new nodes is replaced with an unnormalized rate determined by the ratio of the degree of a randomly selected old node to the maximal node degree at the current stage of the network evolution. Such a modification of the attachment rule is argued to accelerate considerable numerical simulations of both unweighted and weighted networks belonging to the class of investigated evolving systems. It is also proved that the studied rate equations have a solution corresponding to the total weight (concentrated at individual vertices) distribution displaying the power-law behavior for asymptotically large weights.