A novel framework for community modeling and characterization in directed temporal networks

Abstract We deal with the problem of modeling and characterizing the community structure of complex systems. First, we propose a mathematical model for directed temporal networks based on the paradigm of activity driven networks. Many features of real-world systems are encapsulated in our model, suc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Christian Bongiorno, Lorenzo Zino, Alessandro Rizzo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2019-03-01
Series:Applied Network Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41109-019-0119-2
Description
Summary:Abstract We deal with the problem of modeling and characterizing the community structure of complex systems. First, we propose a mathematical model for directed temporal networks based on the paradigm of activity driven networks. Many features of real-world systems are encapsulated in our model, such as hierarchical and overlapping community structures, heterogeneous attitude of nodes in behaving as sources or drains for connections, and the existence of a backbone of links that model dyadic relationships between nodes. Second, we develop a method for parameter identification of temporal networks based on the analysis of the integrated network of connections. Starting from any existing community detection algorithm, our method enriches the obtained solution by providing an in-depth characterization of the very nature of the role of nodes and communities in generating the temporal link structure. The proposed modeling and characterization framework is validated on three synthetic benchmarks and two real-world case studies.
ISSN:2364-8228