Dynamical processes taking place on real networks define on them evolving
subnetworks whose topology is not necessarily the same of the underlying one.
We investigate the problem of determining the emerging degree distribution,
focusing on a class of tree-like processes, such as those used to explore the
Internet's topology. A general theory based on mean-field arguments is
proposed, both for single-source and multiple-source cases, and applied to the
specific example of the traceroute exploration of networks. Our results provide
a qualitative improvement in the understanding of dynamical sampling and of the
interplay between dynamics and topology in large networks like the Internet.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure