Extended Lorenz majorization and frequencies of distances in an undirected network

Purpose:To contribute to the study of networks and graphs.Design/methodology/approach:We apply standard mathematical thinking.Findings:We show that the distance distribution in an undirected network Lorenz majorizes the one of a chain.As a consequence,the average and median distances in any such network are smaller than or equal to those of a chain.Research limitations:We restricted our investigations to undirected,unweighted networks.Practical implications:We are convinced that these results are useful in the study of small worlds and the so-called six degrees of separation property.Originality/value:To the best of our knowledge our research contains new network results,especially those related to frequencies of distances.