The Problem of Action at a Distance in Networks and the Emergence of Preferential Attachment from Triadic Closure

In this paper, we characterise the notion of preferential attachment in networks as action at a distance, and argue that it can only be an emergent phenomenon – the actual mechanism by which networks grow always being the closing of triangles. After a review of the concepts of triangle closing and preferential attachment, we present our argument, as well as a simplified model in which preferential attachment can be derived mathematically from triangle closing. Additionally, we perform experiments on synthetic graphs to demonstrate the emergence of preferential attachment in graph growth models based only on triangle closing.