Description

Understanding the dynamics of human movements is key to issues of significant current interest such as behavioral prediction, recommendation, and control of epidemic spreading. We collect and analyze big data sets of human movements in both cyberspace (through browsing of

Understanding the dynamics of human movements is key to issues of significant current interest such as behavioral prediction, recommendation, and control of epidemic spreading. We collect and analyze big data sets of human movements in both cyberspace (through browsing of websites) and physical space (through mobile towers) and find a superlinear scaling relation between the mean frequency of visit〈f〉and its fluctuation σ : σ ∼〈f⟩β with β ≈ 1.2. The probability distribution of the visiting frequency is found to be a stretched exponential function. We develop a model incorporating two essential ingredients, preferential return and exploration, and show that these are necessary for generating the scaling relation extracted from real data. A striking finding is that human movements in cyberspace and physical space are strongly correlated, indicating a distinctive behavioral identifying characteristic and implying that the behaviors in one space can be used to predict those in the other.

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Title
  • Scaling and Correlation of Human Movements in Cyberspace and Physical Space
Contributors
Date Created
2014-11-12
Resource Type
  • Text
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    Identifier
    • Digital object identifier: 10.1103/PhysRevE.90.050802
    • Identifier Type
      International standard serial number
      Identifier Value
      2470-0053
    • Identifier Type
      International standard serial number
      Identifier Value
      2470-0045
    Note
    • Copyright 2014 by the American Physical Society. View the article as published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.90.050802

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    This is a suggested citation. Consult the appropriate style guide for specific citation guidelines.

    Zhao, Zhi-Dan, Huang, Zi-Gang, Huang, Liang, Liu, Huan, & Lai, Ying-Cheng (2014). Scaling and correlation of human movements in cyberspace and physical space. PHYSICAL REVIEW E, 90(5), 0-0. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.90.050802

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