16,566 research outputs found
Exact sampling of graphs with prescribed degree correlations
Many real-world networks exhibit correlations between the node degrees. For instance, in social networks nodes tend to connect to nodes of similar degree and conversely, in biological and technological networks, high-degree nodes tend to be linked with low-degree nodes. Degree correlations also affect the dynamics of processes supported by a network structure, such as the spread of opinions or epidemics. The proper modelling of these systems, i.e., without uncontrolled biases, requires the sampling of networks with a specified set of constraints. We present a solution to the sampling problem when the constraints imposed are the degree correlations. In particular, we develop an exact method to construct and sample graphs with a specified joint-degree matrix, which is a matrix providing the number of edges between all the sets of nodes of a given degree, for all degrees, thus completely specifying all pairwise degree correlations, and additionally, the degree sequence itself. Our algorithm always produces independent samples without backtracking. The complexity of the graph construction algorithm is where N is the number of nodes and M is the number of edges
Tailored graph ensembles as proxies or null models for real networks I: tools for quantifying structure
We study the tailoring of structured random graph ensembles to real networks,
with the objective of generating precise and practical mathematical tools for
quantifying and comparing network topologies macroscopically, beyond the level
of degree statistics. Our family of ensembles can produce graphs with any
prescribed degree distribution and any degree-degree correlation function, its
control parameters can be calculated fully analytically, and as a result we can
calculate (asymptotically) formulae for entropies and complexities, and for
information-theoretic distances between networks, expressed directly and
explicitly in terms of their measured degree distribution and degree
correlations.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figure
2.5K-Graphs: from Sampling to Generation
Understanding network structure and having access to realistic graphs plays a
central role in computer and social networks research. In this paper, we
propose a complete, and practical methodology for generating graphs that
resemble a real graph of interest. The metrics of the original topology we
target to match are the joint degree distribution (JDD) and the
degree-dependent average clustering coefficient (). We start by
developing efficient estimators for these two metrics based on a node sample
collected via either independence sampling or random walks. Then, we process
the output of the estimators to ensure that the target properties are
realizable. Finally, we propose an efficient algorithm for generating
topologies that have the exact target JDD and a close to the
target. Extensive simulations using real-life graphs show that the graphs
generated by our methodology are similar to the original graph with respect to,
not only the two target metrics, but also a wide range of other topological
metrics; furthermore, our generator is order of magnitudes faster than
state-of-the-art techniques
Efficient and exact sampling of simple graphs with given arbitrary degree sequence
Uniform sampling from graphical realizations of a given degree sequence is a
fundamental component in simulation-based measurements of network observables,
with applications ranging from epidemics, through social networks to Internet
modeling. Existing graph sampling methods are either link-swap based
(Markov-Chain Monte Carlo algorithms) or stub-matching based (the Configuration
Model). Both types are ill-controlled, with typically unknown mixing times for
link-swap methods and uncontrolled rejections for the Configuration Model. Here
we propose an efficient, polynomial time algorithm that generates statistically
independent graph samples with a given, arbitrary, degree sequence. The
algorithm provides a weight associated with each sample, allowing the
observable to be measured either uniformly over the graph ensemble, or,
alternatively, with a desired distribution. Unlike other algorithms, this
method always produces a sample, without back-tracking or rejections. Using a
central limit theorem-based reasoning, we argue, that for large N, and for
degree sequences admitting many realizations, the sample weights are expected
to have a lognormal distribution. As examples, we apply our algorithm to
generate networks with degree sequences drawn from power-law distributions and
from binomial distributions.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
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