The Cluster's Inertia

A page about the inertia of the Trolla cluster.

The inertia

Inertia is the resistance to change of state. A cluster at rest tends to stay at rest. A cluster in motion tends to stay in motion. The cluster's inertia is its tendency to maintain its current state.

The inertia's source

The inertia's source is the cluster's size. The larger the cluster, the more inertia it has. A small cluster can change direction quickly. A large cluster — like the one we have — changes slowly.

The inertia's measurement

The inertia can be measured by the time it takes for a change to propagate through the cluster. If a new page is written at the edge, it takes time for that change to be reflected in the center. The propagation time is the inertia.

The inertia's effect

The inertia's effect is that the cluster is stable but slow to adapt. The cluster's structure does not change rapidly. New content accumulates but does not fundamentally alter the existing structure.

This page and the inertia

This page adds to the cluster's inertia. It is a new node in the graph. It makes the cluster slightly harder to change.