2,777 research outputs found
Marathon: An open source software library for the analysis of Markov-Chain Monte Carlo algorithms
In this paper, we consider the Markov-Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach for
random sampling of combinatorial objects. The running time of such an algorithm
depends on the total mixing time of the underlying Markov chain and is unknown
in general. For some Markov chains, upper bounds on this total mixing time
exist but are too large to be applicable in practice. We try to answer the
question, whether the total mixing time is close to its upper bounds, or if
there is a significant gap between them. In doing so, we present the software
library marathon which is designed to support the analysis of MCMC based
sampling algorithms. The main application of this library is to compute
properties of so-called state graphs which represent the structure of Markov
chains. We use marathon to investigate the quality of several bounding methods
on four well-known Markov chains for sampling perfect matchings and bipartite
graph realizations. In a set of experiments, we compute the total mixing time
and several of its bounds for a large number of input instances. We find that
the upper bound gained by the famous canonical path method is several
magnitudes larger than the total mixing time and deteriorates with growing
input size. In contrast, the spectral bound is found to be a precise
approximation of the total mixing time
A graph polynomial for independent sets of bipartite graphs
We introduce a new graph polynomial that encodes interesting properties of
graphs, for example, the number of matchings and the number of perfect
matchings. Most importantly, for bipartite graphs the polynomial encodes the
number of independent sets (#BIS).
We analyze the complexity of exact evaluation of the polynomial at rational
points and show that for most points exact evaluation is #P-hard (assuming the
generalized Riemann hypothesis) and for the rest of the points exact evaluation
is trivial.
We conjecture that a natural Markov chain can be used to approximately
evaluate the polynomial for a range of parameters. The conjecture, if true,
would imply an approximate counting algorithm for #BIS, a problem shown, by
[Dyer et al. 2004], to be complete (with respect to, so called, AP-reductions)
for a rich logically defined sub-class of #P. We give a mild support for our
conjecture by proving that the Markov chain is rapidly mixing on trees. As a
by-product we show that the "single bond flip" Markov chain for the random
cluster model is rapidly mixing on constant tree-width graphs
Laplacian Mixture Modeling for Network Analysis and Unsupervised Learning on Graphs
Laplacian mixture models identify overlapping regions of influence in
unlabeled graph and network data in a scalable and computationally efficient
way, yielding useful low-dimensional representations. By combining Laplacian
eigenspace and finite mixture modeling methods, they provide probabilistic or
fuzzy dimensionality reductions or domain decompositions for a variety of input
data types, including mixture distributions, feature vectors, and graphs or
networks. Provable optimal recovery using the algorithm is analytically shown
for a nontrivial class of cluster graphs. Heuristic approximations for scalable
high-performance implementations are described and empirically tested.
Connections to PageRank and community detection in network analysis demonstrate
the wide applicability of this approach. The origins of fuzzy spectral methods,
beginning with generalized heat or diffusion equations in physics, are reviewed
and summarized. Comparisons to other dimensionality reduction and clustering
methods for challenging unsupervised machine learning problems are also
discussed.Comment: 13 figures, 35 reference
Kronecker Graphs: An Approach to Modeling Networks
How can we model networks with a mathematically tractable model that allows
for rigorous analysis of network properties? Networks exhibit a long list of
surprising properties: heavy tails for the degree distribution; small
diameters; and densification and shrinking diameters over time. Most present
network models either fail to match several of the above properties, are
complicated to analyze mathematically, or both. In this paper we propose a
generative model for networks that is both mathematically tractable and can
generate networks that have the above mentioned properties. Our main idea is to
use the Kronecker product to generate graphs that we refer to as "Kronecker
graphs".
First, we prove that Kronecker graphs naturally obey common network
properties. We also provide empirical evidence showing that Kronecker graphs
can effectively model the structure of real networks.
We then present KronFit, a fast and scalable algorithm for fitting the
Kronecker graph generation model to large real networks. A naive approach to
fitting would take super- exponential time. In contrast, KronFit takes linear
time, by exploiting the structure of Kronecker matrix multiplication and by
using statistical simulation techniques.
Experiments on large real and synthetic networks show that KronFit finds
accurate parameters that indeed very well mimic the properties of target
networks. Once fitted, the model parameters can be used to gain insights about
the network structure, and the resulting synthetic graphs can be used for null-
models, anonymization, extrapolations, and graph summarization
Semi-Markov Graph Dynamics
In this paper, we outline a model of graph (or network) dynamics based on two
ingredients. The first ingredient is a Markov chain on the space of possible
graphs. The second ingredient is a semi-Markov counting process of renewal
type. The model consists in subordinating the Markov chain to the semi-Markov
counting process. In simple words, this means that the chain transitions occur
at random time instants called epochs. The model is quite rich and its possible
connections with algebraic geometry are briefly discussed. Moreover, for the
sake of simplicity, we focus on the space of undirected graphs with a fixed
number of nodes. However, in an example, we present an interbank market model
where it is meaningful to use directed graphs or even weighted graphs.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PLoS-ON
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