Lectures on Complex Networks

This text is a concise modern introduction to the science of complex networks, and is based on lectures for university students and non-specialists. The author aims to introduce a reader without serious background in mathematics or physics to the world of networks. The lectures fill the existing gap between popular science books and comprehensive reference volumes on complex networks, and provide the shortest path to the world of networks, discussing the main directions of modern research in this active field, as well as the history of network studies. The text describes the current state of the art in complex networks and includes recent results, and will be useful for both teaching and self-study.

S.N. Dorogovtsev gained his PhD from Ioffe the Institute, St. Petersburg in 1981 and has been research professor in the Theoretical Department there since 1993. He is currently also investigator-coordinator at the Physics department of the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He won the Gulbenkian Prize in Science in 2004.