Title
Random Walks, Markov Processes and the Multiscale Modular Organization of Complex Networks
Abstract
Most methods proposed to uncover communities in complex networks rely on combinatorial graph properties. Usually an edge-counting quality function, such as modularity, is optimized over all partitions of the graph compared against a null random graph model. Here we introduce a systematic dynamical framework to design and analyze a wide variety of quality functions for community detection. The quality of a partition is measured by its Markov Stability, a time-parametrized function defined in terms of the statistical properties of a Markov process taking place on the graph. The Markov process provides a dynamical sweeping across all scales in the graph, and the time scale is an intrinsic parameter that uncovers communities at different resolutions. This dynamic-based community detection leads to a compound optimization, which favours communities of comparable centrality (as defined by the stationary distribution), and provides a unifying framework for spectral algorithms, as well as different heuristics for community detection, including versions of modularity and Potts model. Our dynamic framework creates a systematic link between different stochastic dynamics and their corresponding notions of optimal communities under distinct (node and edge) centralities. We show that the Markov Stability can be computed efficiently to find multi-scale community structure in large networks.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1109/TNSE.2015.2391998
Network Science and Engineering, IEEE Transactions  
Keywords
Field
DocType
Markov processes,complex networks,graph theory,network theory (graphs),random processes,Markov process,Markov stability,Potts model,combinatorial graph,complex network,dynamic-based community detection,edge-counting quality function,multiscale modular organization,random graph model,random walks,stationary distribution,statistical property,stochastic dynamics,time-parametrized function,Community detection,centrality,community detection,graph theory,multiscale structure,optimization,partition stability,random walks
Graph theory,Mathematical optimization,Markov process,Random graph,Graph property,Random walk,Markov chain,Centrality,Theoretical computer science,Complex network,Mathematics
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
1
2
2327-4697
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
51
1.87
26
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Renaud Lambiotte192064.98
Jean-Charles Delvenne229932.41
Mauricio Barahona323423.62