The fractal dimension of complex networks: A review

Abstract The fractal property is one of the most important properties in complex networks. It describes the power law relationship between characteristics of the box and the box size. There are numerous research studies focusing on the fractal property in networks through different dimensions. In order to study the problems across various disciplines, fractal dimension and local dimension are proposed to study network and node properties respectively. In this review paper, various network covering algorithms, which form the basis for obtaining fractal dimension are being reviewed. The different dimensions used to describe the fractal property of networks and their applications are then discussed. Through these studies, we emphasize that the fractal property is an important tool for understanding network characteristics. In the last section, we give our conclusion and discuss possible future directions for fractal dimension research.