7,789 research outputs found
Interbank markets and multiplex networks: centrality measures and statistical null models
The interbank market is considered one of the most important channels of
contagion. Its network representation, where banks and claims/obligations are
represented by nodes and links (respectively), has received a lot of attention
in the recent theoretical and empirical literature, for assessing systemic risk
and identifying systematically important financial institutions. Different
types of links, for example in terms of maturity and collateralization of the
claim/obligation, can be established between financial institutions. Therefore
a natural representation of the interbank structure which takes into account
more features of the market, is a multiplex, where each layer is associated
with a type of link. In this paper we review the empirical structure of the
multiplex and the theoretical consequences of this representation. We also
investigate the betweenness and eigenvector centrality of a bank in the
network, comparing its centrality properties across different layers and with
Maximum Entropy null models.Comment: To appear in the book "Interconnected Networks", A. Garas e F.
Schweitzer (eds.), Springer Complexity Serie
Multiplexity and multireciprocity in directed multiplexes
Real-world multi-layer networks feature nontrivial dependencies among links
of different layers. Here we argue that, if links are directed, dependencies
are twofold. Besides the ordinary tendency of links of different layers to
align as the result of `multiplexity', there is also a tendency to anti-align
as the result of what we call `multireciprocity', i.e. the fact that links in
one layer can be reciprocated by \emph{opposite} links in a different layer.
Multireciprocity generalizes the scalar definition of single-layer reciprocity
to that of a square matrix involving all pairs of layers. We introduce
multiplexity and multireciprocity matrices for both binary and weighted
multiplexes and validate their statistical significance against maximum-entropy
null models that filter out the effects of node heterogeneity. We then perform
a detailed empirical analysis of the World Trade Multiplex (WTM), representing
the import-export relationships between world countries in different
commodities. We show that the WTM exhibits strong multiplexity and
multireciprocity, an effect which is however largely encoded into the degree or
strength sequences of individual layers. The residual effects are still
significant and allow to classify pairs of commodities according to their
tendency to be traded together in the same direction and/or in opposite ones.
We also find that the multireciprocity of the WTM is significantly lower than
the usual reciprocity measured on the aggregate network. Moreover, layers with
low (high) internal reciprocity are embedded within sets of layers with
comparably low (high) mutual multireciprocity. This suggests that, in the WTM,
reciprocity is inherent to groups of related commodities rather than to
individual commodities. We discuss the implications for international trade
research focusing on product taxonomies, the product space, and
fitness/complexity metrics.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure
Complex Networks from Classical to Quantum
Recent progress in applying complex network theory to problems in quantum
information has resulted in a beneficial crossover. Complex network methods
have successfully been applied to transport and entanglement models while
information physics is setting the stage for a theory of complex systems with
quantum information-inspired methods. Novel quantum induced effects have been
predicted in random graphs---where edges represent entangled links---and
quantum computer algorithms have been proposed to offer enhancement for several
network problems. Here we review the results at the cutting edge, pinpointing
the similarities and the differences found at the intersection of these two
fields.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX 4-1, accepted versio
Unbiased sampling of network ensembles
Sampling random graphs with given properties is a key step in the analysis of
networks, as random ensembles represent basic null models required to identify
patterns such as communities and motifs. An important requirement is that the
sampling process is unbiased and efficient. The main approaches are
microcanonical, i.e. they sample graphs that match the enforced constraints
exactly. Unfortunately, when applied to strongly heterogeneous networks (like
most real-world examples), the majority of these approaches become biased
and/or time-consuming. Moreover, the algorithms defined in the simplest cases,
such as binary graphs with given degrees, are not easily generalizable to more
complicated ensembles. Here we propose a solution to the problem via the
introduction of a "Maximize and Sample" ("Max & Sam" for short) method to
correctly sample ensembles of networks where the constraints are `soft', i.e.
realized as ensemble averages. Our method is based on exact maximum-entropy
distributions and is therefore unbiased by construction, even for strongly
heterogeneous networks. It is also more computationally efficient than most
microcanonical alternatives. Finally, it works for both binary and weighted
networks with a variety of constraints, including combined degree-strength
sequences and full reciprocity structure, for which no alternative method
exists. Our canonical approach can in principle be turned into an unbiased
microcanonical one, via a restriction to the relevant subset. Importantly, the
analysis of the fluctuations of the constraints suggests that the
microcanonical and canonical versions of all the ensembles considered here are
not equivalent. We show various real-world applications and provide a code
implementing all our algorithms.Comment: MatLab code available at
http://www.mathworks.it/matlabcentral/fileexchange/46912-max-sam-package-zi
Exploring the randomness of Directed Acyclic Networks
The feed-forward relationship naturally observed in time-dependent processes
and in a diverse number of real systems -such as some food-webs and electronic
and neural wiring- can be described in terms of so-called directed acyclic
graphs (DAGs). An important ingredient of the analysis of such networks is a
proper comparison of their observed architecture against an ensemble of
randomized graphs, thereby quantifying the {\em randomness} of the real systems
with respect to suitable null models. This approximation is particularly
relevant when the finite size and/or large connectivity of real systems make
inadequate a comparison with the predictions obtained from the so-called {\em
configuration model}. In this paper we analyze four methods of DAG
randomization as defined by the desired combination of topological invariants
(directed and undirected degree sequence and component distributions) aimed to
be preserved. A highly ordered DAG, called \textit{snake}-graph and a
Erd\:os-R\'enyi DAG were used to validate the performance of the algorithms.
Finally, three real case studies, namely, the \textit{C. elegans} cell lineage
network, a PhD student-advisor network and the Milgram's citation network were
analyzed using each randomization method. Results show how the interpretation
of degree-degree relations in DAGs respect to their randomized ensembles depend
on the topological invariants imposed. In general, real DAGs provide disordered
values, lower than the expected by chance when the directedness of the links is
not preserved in the randomization process. Conversely, if the direction of the
links is conserved throughout the randomization process, disorder indicators
are close to the obtained from the null-model ensemble, although some
deviations are observed.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures and 5 table
Quantifying sudden changes in dynamical systems using symbolic networks
We characterise the evolution of a dynamical system by combining two
well-known complex systems' tools, namely, symbolic ordinal analysis and
networks. From the ordinal representation of a time-series we construct a
network in which every node weights represents the probability of an ordinal
patterns (OPs) to appear in the symbolic sequence and each edges weight
represents the probability of transitions between two consecutive OPs. Several
network-based diagnostics are then proposed to characterize the dynamics of
different systems: logistic, tent and circle maps. We show that these
diagnostics are able to capture changes produced in the dynamics as a control
parameter is varied. We also apply our new measures to empirical data from
semiconductor lasers and show that they are able to anticipate the polarization
switchings, thus providing early warning signals of abrupt transitions.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, to appear in New Journal of Physic
Low-temperature behaviour of social and economic networks
Real-world social and economic networks typically display a number of
particular topological properties, such as a giant connected component, a broad
degree distribution, the small-world property and the presence of communities
of densely interconnected nodes. Several models, including ensembles of
networks also known in social science as Exponential Random Graphs, have been
proposed with the aim of reproducing each of these properties in isolation.
Here we define a generalized ensemble of graphs by introducing the concept of
graph temperature, controlling the degree of topological optimization of a
network. We consider the temperature-dependent version of both existing and
novel models and show that all the aforementioned topological properties can be
simultaneously understood as the natural outcomes of an optimized,
low-temperature topology. We also show that seemingly different graph models,
as well as techniques used to extract information from real networks, are all
found to be particular low-temperature cases of the same generalized formalism.
One such technique allows us to extend our approach to real weighted networks.
Our results suggest that a low graph temperature might be an ubiquitous
property of real socio-economic networks, placing conditions on the diffusion
of information across these systems
Quantifying the interdisciplinarity of scientific journals and fields
There is an overall perception of increased interdisciplinarity in science,
but this is difficult to confirm quantitatively owing to the lack of adequate
methods to evaluate subjective phenomena. This is no different from the
difficulties in establishing quantitative relationships in human and social
sciences. In this paper we quantified the interdisciplinarity of scientific
journals and science fields by using an entropy measurement based on the
diversity of the subject categories of journals citing a specific journal. The
methodology consisted in building citation networks using the Journal Citation
Reports database, in which the nodes were journals and edges were established
based on citations among journals. The overall network for the 11-year period
(1999-2009) studied was small-world and scale free with regard to the
in-strength. Upon visualizing the network topology an overall structure of the
various science fields could be inferred, especially their interconnections. We
confirmed quantitatively that science fields are becoming increasingly
interdisciplinary, with the degree of interdisplinarity (i.e. entropy)
correlating strongly with the in-strength of journals and with the impact
factor.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
Laplacian Dynamics and Multiscale Modular Structure in Networks
Most methods proposed to uncover communities in complex networks rely on
their structural properties. Here we introduce the stability of a network
partition, a measure of its quality defined in terms of the statistical
properties of a dynamical process taking place on the graph. The time-scale of
the process acts as an intrinsic parameter that uncovers community structures
at different resolutions. The stability extends and unifies standard notions
for community detection: modularity and spectral partitioning can be seen as
limiting cases of our dynamic measure. Similarly, recently proposed
multi-resolution methods correspond to linearisations of the stability at short
times. The connection between community detection and Laplacian dynamics
enables us to establish dynamically motivated stability measures linked to
distinct null models. We apply our method to find multi-scale partitions for
different networks and show that the stability can be computed efficiently for
large networks with extended versions of current algorithms.Comment: New discussions on the selection of the most significant scales and
the generalisation of stability to directed network
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