A network can be represented as a connectivity matrix, which is rather simple to construct:
- Size of the connectivity matrix: Involves a number of rows and columns equivalent to the number of nodes in the network. A connectivity matrix is always a square matrix. Since the above network has 5 nodes (A to E), its connectivity matrix is a five-by-five grid.
- Connection: Each cell representing a connection between two nodes gets a value of 1 (e.g. Cell B – A).
- Non-connection: Each cell not representing a direct connection gets a value of 0 (e.g. Cell D – E).
- If all connections in the network are bi-directional (a movement is possible from node C to node D and vice-versa), the connectivity matrix is transposable.
Adding up a row or a column gives the degree of a node. Node C is obviously the most connected since it has the highest summation of connectivity compared to all other nodes. However, this assumption may not be true on a more complex network because of a larger number of indirect paths, which are not considered in the connectivity matrix.