142,134 research outputs found
Finding Statistically Significant Communities in Networks
Community structure is one of the main structural features of networks, revealing
both their internal organization and the similarity of their elementary units.
Despite the large variety of methods proposed to detect communities in graphs,
there is a big need for multi-purpose techniques, able to handle different types
of datasets and the subtleties of community structure. In this paper we present
OSLOM (Order Statistics Local Optimization Method), the first method capable to
detect clusters in networks accounting for edge directions, edge weights,
overlapping communities, hierarchies and community dynamics. It is based on the
local optimization of a fitness function expressing the statistical significance
of clusters with respect to random fluctuations, which is estimated with tools
of Extreme and Order Statistics. OSLOM can be used alone or as a refinement
procedure of partitions/covers delivered by other techniques. We have also
implemented sequential algorithms combining OSLOM with other fast techniques, so
that the community structure of very large networks can be uncovered. Our method
has a comparable performance as the best existing algorithms on artificial
benchmark graphs. Several applications on real networks are shown as well. OSLOM
is implemented in a freely available software (http://www.oslom.org), and we
believe it will be a valuable tool in the analysis of networks
Identifying network communities with a high resolution
Community structure is an important property of complex networks. An
automatic discovery of such structure is a fundamental task in many
disciplines, including sociology, biology, engineering, and computer science.
Recently, several community discovery algorithms have been proposed based on
the optimization of a quantity called modularity (Q). However, the problem of
modularity optimization is NP-hard, and the existing approaches often suffer
from prohibitively long running time or poor quality. Furthermore, it has been
recently pointed out that algorithms based on optimizing Q will have a
resolution limit, i.e., communities below a certain scale may not be detected.
In this research, we first propose an efficient heuristic algorithm, Qcut,
which combines spectral graph partitioning and local search to optimize Q.
Using both synthetic and real networks, we show that Qcut can find higher
modularities and is more scalable than the existing algorithms. Furthermore,
using Qcut as an essential component, we propose a recursive algorithm, HQcut,
to solve the resolution limit problem. We show that HQcut can successfully
detect communities at a much finer scale and with a higher accuracy than the
existing algorithms. Finally, we apply Qcut and HQcut to study a
protein-protein interaction network, and show that the combination of the two
algorithms can reveal interesting biological results that may be otherwise
undetectable.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. 1 supplemental file at
http://cic.cs.wustl.edu/qcut/supplemental.pd
Enhancing community detection using a network weighting strategy
A community within a network is a group of vertices densely connected to each
other but less connected to the vertices outside. The problem of detecting
communities in large networks plays a key role in a wide range of research
areas, e.g. Computer Science, Biology and Sociology. Most of the existing
algorithms to find communities count on the topological features of the network
and often do not scale well on large, real-life instances.
In this article we propose a strategy to enhance existing community detection
algorithms by adding a pre-processing step in which edges are weighted
according to their centrality w.r.t. the network topology. In our approach, the
centrality of an edge reflects its contribute to making arbitrary graph
tranversals, i.e., spreading messages over the network, as short as possible.
Our strategy is able to effectively complements information about network
topology and it can be used as an additional tool to enhance community
detection. The computation of edge centralities is carried out by performing
multiple random walks of bounded length on the network. Our method makes the
computation of edge centralities feasible also on large-scale networks. It has
been tested in conjunction with three state-of-the-art community detection
algorithms, namely the Louvain method, COPRA and OSLOM. Experimental results
show that our method raises the accuracy of existing algorithms both on
synthetic and real-life datasets.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figure
A generalised significance test for individual communities in networks
Many empirical networks have community structure, in which nodes are densely
interconnected within each community (i.e., a group of nodes) and sparsely
across different communities. Like other local and meso-scale structure of
networks, communities are generally heterogeneous in various aspects such as
the size, density of edges, connectivity to other communities and significance.
In the present study, we propose a method to statistically test the
significance of individual communities in a given network. Compared to the
previous methods, the present algorithm is unique in that it accepts different
community-detection algorithms and the corresponding quality function for
single communities. The present method requires that a quality of each
community can be quantified and that community detection is performed as
optimisation of such a quality function summed over the communities. Various
community detection algorithms including modularity maximisation and graph
partitioning meet this criterion. Our method estimates a distribution of the
quality function for randomised networks to calculate a likelihood of each
community in the given network. We illustrate our algorithm by synthetic and
empirical networks.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures and 4 table
Kantian fractionalization predicts the conflict propensity of the international system
The study of complex social and political phenomena with the perspective and
methods of network science has proven fruitful in a variety of areas, including
applications in political science and more narrowly the field of international
relations. We propose a new line of research in the study of international
conflict by showing that the multiplex fractionalization of the international
system (which we label Kantian fractionalization) is a powerful predictor of
the propensity for violent interstate conflict, a key indicator of the system's
stability. In so doing, we also demonstrate the first use of multislice
modularity for community detection in a multiplex network application. Even
after controlling for established system-level conflict indicators, we find
that Kantian fractionalization contributes more to model fit for violent
interstate conflict than previously established measures. Moreover, evaluating
the influence of each of the constituent networks shows that joint democracy
plays little, if any, role in predicting system stability, thus challenging a
major empirical finding of the international relations literature. Lastly, a
series of Granger causal tests shows that the temporal variability of Kantian
fractionalization is consistent with a causal relationship with the prevalence
of conflict in the international system. This causal relationship has
real-world policy implications as changes in Kantian fractionalization could
serve as an early warning sign of international instability.Comment: 17 pages + 17 pages designed as supplementary online materia
Connecting Dream Networks Across Cultures
Many species dream, yet there remain many open research questions in the
study of dreams. The symbolism of dreams and their interpretation is present in
cultures throughout history. Analysis of online data sources for dream
interpretation using network science leads to understanding symbolism in dreams
and their associated meaning. In this study, we introduce dream interpretation
networks for English, Chinese and Arabic that represent different cultures from
various parts of the world. We analyze communities in these networks, finding
that symbols within a community are semantically related. The central nodes in
communities give insight about cultures and symbols in dreams. The community
structure of different networks highlights cultural similarities and
differences. Interconnections between different networks are also identified by
translating symbols from different languages into English. Structural
correlations across networks point out relationships between cultures.
Similarities between network communities are also investigated by analysis of
sentiment in symbol interpretations. We find that interpretations within a
community tend to have similar sentiment. Furthermore, we cluster communities
based on their sentiment, yielding three main categories of positive, negative,
and neutral dream symbols.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
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