Alpha Index in a Graph

Alpha Index in a Graph

A measure of connectivity that evaluates the number of cycles in a graph compared to the maximum number of cycles. The higher the alpha index, the more a network is connected. Trees and simple networks will have a value of 0. A value of 1 indicates a completely connected network. Measures the level of connectivity independently of the number of nodes. A network rarely has an alpha value of 1 because this would imply serious redundancies. This index is also called Meshedness Coefficient in the literature on planar networks. The above graphs have a growing level of connectivity. While graph A has no cycles, graph D has the maximum possible number of cycles for a planar graph.