Network rewiring dynamics with convergence towards a star network

Network rewiring as a method for producing a range of structures was first introduced in 1998 by Watts & Strogatz (Nature 393 , 440–442. (doi:10.1038/30918 )). This approach allowed a transition from regular through small-world to a random network. The subsequent interest in scale-free networks motivated a number of methods for developing rewiring approaches that converged to scale-free networks. This paper presents a rewiring algorithm (RtoS) for undirected, non-degenerate, fixed size networks that transitions from regular, through small-world and scale-free to star-like networks. Applications of the approach to models for the spread of infectious disease and fixation time for a simple genetics model are used to demonstrate the efficacy and application of the approach.