Dynamical and correlation properties of the Internet

Abstract
The description of the Internet topology is an important open problem, recently tackled with the introduction of scale-free networks. In this paper we focus on the topological and dynamical properties of real Internet maps in a three years time interval. We study higher order correlation functions as well as the dynamics of several quantities. We find that the Internet is characterized by non-trivial correlations among nodes and different dynamical regimes. We point out the importance of node hierarchy and aging in the Internet structure and growth. Our results provide hints towards the realistic modeling of the Internet evolution.