Efficient computation of rank probabilities in posets

As the title of this work indicates, the central theme in this work is the computation of rank probabilities of posets. Since the probability space consists of the set of all linear extensions of a given poset equipped with the uniform probability measure, in first instance we develop algorithms to explore this probability space efficiently. We consider in particular the problem of counting the number of linear extensions and the ability to generate extensions uniformly at random. Algorithms based on the lattice of ideals representation of a poset are developed. Since a weak order extension of a poset can be regarded as an order on the equivalence classes of a partition of the given poset not contradicting the underlying order, and thus as a generalization of the concept of a linear extension, algorithms are developed to count and generate weak order extensions uniformly at random as well. However, in order to reduce the inherent complexity of the problem, the cardinalities of the equivalence classes is fixed a priori. Due to the exponential nature of these algorithms this approach is still not always feasible, forcing one to resort to approximative algorithms if this is the case. It is well known that Markov chain Monte Carlo methods can be used to generate linear extensions uniformly at random, but no such approaches have been used to generate weak order extensions. Therefore, an algorithm that can be used to sample weak order extensions uniformly at random is introduced. A monotone assignment of labels to objects from a poset corresponds to the choice of a weak order extension of the poset. Since the random monotone assignment of such labels is a step in the generation process of random monotone data sets, the ability to generate random weak order extensions clearly is of great importance. The contributions from this part therefore prove useful in e.g. the field of supervised classification, where a need for synthetic random monotone data sets is present. The second part focuses on the ranking of the elements of a partially ordered set. Algorithms for the computation of the (mutual) rank probabilities that avoid having to enumerate all linear extensions are suggested and applied to a real-world data set containing pollution data of several regions in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). With the emergence of several initiatives aimed at protecting the environment like the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) project of the European Union, the need for objective methods to rank chemicals, regions, etc. on the basis of several criteria still increases. Additionally, an interesting relation between the mutual rank probabilities and the average rank probabilities is proven. The third and last part studies the transitivity properties of the mutual rank probabilities and the closely related linear extension majority cycles or LEM cycles for short. The type of transitivity is translated into the cycle-transitivity framework, which has been tailor-made for characterizing transitivity of reciprocal relations, and is proven to be situated between strong stochastic transitivity and a new type of transitivity called delta*-transitivity. It is shown that the latter type is situated between strong stochastic transitivity and a kind of product transitivity. Furthermore, theoretical upper bounds for the minimum cutting level to avoid LEM cycles are found. Cutting levels for posets on up to 13 elements are obtained experimentally and a theoretic lower bound for the cutting level to avoid LEM cycles of length 4 is computed. The research presented in this work has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and has been presented on international conferences. A Java implementation of several of the algorithms presented in this work, as well as binary files containing all posets on up to 13 elements with LEM cycles, can be downloaded from the website http://www.kermit.ugent.be

Contributions to modeling, structural analysis, and routing performance in dynamic networks

Cette thèse apporte des contributions à la modélisation, compréhension ainsi qu’à la communication efficace d’information dans les réseaux dynamiques peuplant la périphérie de l’Internet. Par réseaux dynamiques, nous signifions les réseaux pouvant être modélisés par des graphes dynamiques dans lesquels noeuds et liens évoluent temporellement. Dans la première partie de la thèse, nous proposons un nouveau modèle de mobilité - STEPS - qui permet de capturer un large spectre de comportement de mobilité humains. STEPS mets en oeuvre deux principes fondamentaux de la mobilité humaine : l’attachement préférentiel à une zone de prédilection et l’attraction vers une zone de prédilection. Nous proposons une modélisation markovienne de ce modèle de mobilité. Nous montrons que ce simple modèle paramétrique est capable de capturer les caractéristiques statistiques saillantes de la mobilité humaine comme la distribution des temps d’inter-contacts et de contacts. Dans la deuxième partie, en utilisant STEPS, nous analysons les propriétés comportementales et structurelles fondamentales des réseaux opportunistes. Nous redéfinissons dans le contexte des réseaux dynamiques la notion de structure petit monde et montrons comment une telle structure peut émerger. En particulier, nous montrons que les noeuds fortement dynamiques peuvent jouer le rôle de ponts entre les composants déconnectés, aident à réduire significativement la longueur du chemin caractéristique du réseau et contribuent à l’émergence du phénomène petit-monde dans les réseaux dynamiques. Nous proposons une façon de modéliser ce phénomène sous STEPS. À partir d’un réseau dynamique régulier dans lequel les noeuds limitent leur mobilité à leurs zones préférentielles respectives. Nous recablons ce réseau en injectant progressivement des noeuds nomades se déplaçant entre plusieurs zones. Nous montrons que le pourcentage de tels nœuds nomades est de 10%, le réseau possède une structure petit monde avec un fort taux de clusterisation et un faible longueur du chemin caractéristique. La troisième contribution de cette thèse porte sur l’étude de l’impact du désordre et de l’irrégularité des contacts sur la capacité de communication d’un réseau dynamique. Nous analysons le degré de désordre de réseaux opportunistes réels et montrons que si exploité correctement, celui-ci peut améliorer significativement les performances du routage. Nous introduisons ensuite un modèle permettant de capturer le niveau de désordre d’un réseau dynamique. Nous proposons deux algorithmes simples et efficaces qui exploitent la structure temporelle d’un réseau dynamique pour délivrer les messages avec un bon compromis entre l’usage des ressources et les performances. Les résultats de simulations et analytiques montrent que ce type d’algorithme est plus performant que les approches classiques. Nous mettons également en évidence aussi la structure de réseau pour laquelle ce type d’algorithme atteint ses performances optimum. Basé sur ce résultat théorique nous proposons un nouveau protocole de routage efficace pour les réseaux opportunistes centré sur le contenu. Dans ce protocole, les noeuds maintiennent, via leurs contacts opportunistes, une fonction d’utilité qui résume leur proximité spatio-temporelle par rapport aux autres noeuds. En conséquence, router dans un tel contexte se résume à suivre le gradient de plus grande pente conduisant vers le noeud destination. Cette propriété induit un algorithme de routage simple et efficace qui peut être utilisé aussi bien dans un contexte d’adressage IP que de réseau centré sur les contenus. Les résultats de simulation montrent que ce protocole superforme les protocoles de routage classiques déjà définis pour les réseaux opportunistes. La dernière contribution de cette thèse consiste à mettre en évidence une application potentielle des réseaux dynamiques dans le contexte du « mobile cloud computing ». En utilisant les techniques d’optimisation particulaires, nous montrons que la mobilité peut augmenter considérablement la capacité de calcul des réseaux dynamiques. De plus, nous montrons que la structure dynamique du réseau a un fort impact sur sa capacité de calcul. ABSTRACT : This thesis contributes to the modeling, understanding and efficient communication in dynamic networks populating the periphery of the Internet. By dynamic networks, we refer to networks that can be modeled by dynamic graphs in which nodes and links change temporally. In the first part of the thesis, we propose a new mobility model - STEPS - which captures a wide spectrum of human mobility behavior. STEPS implements two fundamental principles of human mobility: preferential attachment and attractor. We show that this simple parametric model is able to capture the salient statistical properties of human mobility such as the distribution of inter-contact/contact time. In the second part, using STEPS, we analyze the fundamental behavioral and structural properties of opportunistic networks. We redefine in the context of dynamic networks the concept of small world structure and show how such a structure can emerge. In particular, we show that highly dynamic nodes can play the role of bridges between disconnected components, helping to significantly reduce the length of network path and contribute to the emergence of small-world phenomenon in dynamic networks. We propose a way to model this phenomenon in STEPS. From a regular dynamic network in which nodes limit their mobility to their respective preferential areas. We rewire this network by gradually injecting highly nomadic nodes moving between different areas. We show that when the ratio of such nomadic nodes is around 10%, the network has small world structure with a high degree of clustering and a low characteristic path length. The third contribution of this thesis is the study of the impact of disorder and contact irregularity on the communication capacity of a dynamic network. We analyze the degree of disorder of real opportunistic networks and show that if used correctly, it can significantly improve routing performances. We then introduce a model to capture the degree of disorder in a dynamic network. We propose two simple and efficient algorithms that exploit the temporal structure of a dynamic network to deliver messages with a good tradeoff between resource usage and performance. The simulation and analytical results show that this type of algorithm is more efficient than conventional approaches. We also highlight also the network structure for which this type of algorithm achieves its optimum performance. Based on this theoretical result, we propose a new efficient routing protocol for content centric opportunistic networks. In this protocol, nodes maintain, through their opportunistic contacts, an utility function that summarizes their spatio-temporal proximity to other nodes. As a result, routing in this context consists in following the steepest slopes of the gradient field leading to the destination node. This property leads to a simple and effective algorithm routing that can be used both in the context of IP networks and content centric networks. The simulation results show that this protocol outperforms traditional routing protocols already defined for opportunistic networks. The last contribution of this thesis is to highlight the potential application of dynamic networks in the context of "mobile cloud computing." Using the particle optimization techniques, we show that mobility can significantly increase the processing capacity of dynamic networks. In addition, we show that the dynamic structure of the network has a strong impact on its processing capacity

Three Risky Decades: A Time for Econophysics?

Our Special Issue we publish at a turning point, which we have not dealt with since World War II. The interconnected long-term global shocks such as the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and catastrophic climate change have imposed significant humanitary, socio-economic, political, and environmental restrictions on the globalization process and all aspects of economic and social life including the existence of individual people. The planet is trapped—the current situation seems to be the prelude to an apocalypse whose long-term effects we will have for decades. Therefore, it urgently requires a concept of the planet's survival to be built—only on this basis can the conditions for its development be created. The Special Issue gives evidence of the state of econophysics before the current situation. Therefore, it can provide excellent econophysics or an inter-and cross-disciplinary starting point of a rational approach to a new era

Computational Conflict Research

This open access book brings together a set of original studies that use cutting-edge computational methods to investigate conflict at various geographic scales and degrees of intensity and violence. Methodologically, this book covers a variety of computational approaches from text mining and machine learning to agent-based modelling and social network analysis. Empirical cases range from migration policy framing in North America and street protests in Iran to violence against civilians in Congo and food riots world-wide. Supplementary materials in the book include a comprehensive list of the datasets on conflict and dissent, as well as resources to online repositories where the annotated code and data of individual chapters can be found and where (agent-based) models can be re-produced and altered. These materials are a valuable resource for those wishing to retrace and learn from the analyses described in this volume and adapt and apply them to their own research interests. By bringing together novel research through an international team of scholars from a range of disciplines, Computational Conflict Research pioneers and maps this emerging field. The book will appeal to students, scholars, and anyone interested in the prospects of using computational social sciences to advance our understanding of conflict dynamics

Multi-Triangulation Using Qualitative and Crossover Methods to Investigate The Role of Media in Fossil Energy Politics

This research addresses a gap in the continuum of media studies as they relate to energy and politics, which have always been entwined. With each new source of energy or technology, a new form of social dynamics emerges. This study explores the role of media, during the Pennsylvania coal strike of 1902 and the ensuing shifts in political power. Its main hypothesis is – if media helps to shape politics, then its coverage of the 1902 Pennsylvania coal strike, had a hand in delivering democracy to a working proletariat. Using a variety of instruments, and a qualitative-cross over approach, media's role in the 1902 coal strike is explored. Four levels of triangulation, including 3 methods of research are used to analyse 2 datasets. Critical discourse analysis, which maps text, discursive practice and social elements, makes up 2 of the methods; namely transitivity for linguistic texts and a multimodal analysis for the visual text. The 3rd method is a thematic analysis of the global news articles that appeared circa 1902. Each research question entails its own process of triangulation. The terrain of media ideology is probed by triangulating 3 texts: an editorial article, a letter to the editor and a cartoon. They all tackle the 1st research question: • What were the ideologies revealed in visual or lexical patterns, that shaped the discursive composition of reality within media reports during the 1902 coal strike? Then, the 2nd dataset triangulates 3 locations to address the 2nd research question: • What role did media play in the global spread of social democracy? It was found that media discourse unveiled a new ideology within the discursive climate, which influenced society. Ultimately, it shifted the power base. It was also found that media acted globally, triggering wider power contestations. This study will show how media drew on ideology (implicitly or explicitly) to construct meaning around fossil energy politics. It also reveals how global media coverage eased information flows, during the initial wave of democracy and how Timothy Mitchell's conception – ‘carbon democracy' was made possible. Unveiling media's role, helps to unpack its potential in ushering in any new configurations of political power and energy justice, especially as an uptick in renewables is now on record

An economic enquiry into the welfare effects of fair-trade

PhDThe copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author.Fair-trade is investigated at three levels. Each level relates to a specific group of actors. The first group are the consumers of fair-trade. In this respect fair-trade overlaps with altruism. A model is developed which seeks out parameters by which to judge whether or not a person will engage into this gesture of altruism, and accordingly measures the fair-trade utility of the consumer. On the basis that it is voluntary, fair-trade is deemed to be virtuous in that it either uplifts consumer utility, or else the consumer withdraws their patronage. Information is hypothesised to play a key role in determining the depth of this relationship. The second group are neighbouring producers, that is the non fair-trade producers who compete in the same market. A situation is modelled in which fair-trade is viewed as a switch in demand preference rather than new demand. The model allows an evaluation based on the standard tenets of welfare economics: to inform upon which movements are value-creating, which are merely transfers, the symmetry of those transfers and where Pareto improvements can and cannot be realised. The policymaker is afforded a logical overview, but with the implication that many of the relevant variables may be lie beyond their direct influence. The third group are landless vineyard labours in South Africa who are empirically analysised. We observed the strongest performance of fair-trade with respect to subjective improvement in wellbeing and the sort of participation that could be categorised as empowerment.Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC