Simplices and directed simplices are a kind of ultimate motifs in the network (one cannot have anything more connected than that).
Betti numbers and Euler characteristic are meta-motifs. We do not understand what is their precise meaning, but they give a low dimensional characteristic of (organized) network.
Directed simplices are the basic information flow units (that can be assembled together).
Abstract - September 1993
The theory of directed complexes is a higher-dimensional generalisation of the theory of directed graphs. In a directed graph, the simple directed paths form a subset of the free category which they generate; if the graph has no directed cycles, then the simple directed paths constitute the entire category. Generalising this, in a directed complex there is a class of split subsets which is contained in and generates a free ω-category; when a simple loop-freeness condition is satisfied, the split sets constitute the entire ω-category. The class of directed complexes is closed under the natural product and join constructions. The free ω-categories generated by directed complexes include the important examples associated to cubes and simplexes.
Abstract - 29 June 2023
Complex networks are mathematical abstractions of real-world systems using sets of nodes and edges representing the entities and their interactions. Prediction of unknown interactions in such networks is a problem of interest in biology, sociology, physics, engineering, etc. Most complex networks exhibit the recurrence of subnetworks, called network motifs. Within the realm of social science, link prediction (LP) models are employed to model opinions, trust, privacy, rumor spreading in social media, academic and corporate collaborations, liaisons among lawbreakers, and human mobility resulting in contagion. We present an LP metric based on a motif in directed complex networks, called feed-forward loop (FFL). Unlike nearest neighbor-based metrics and machine learning-based techniques that gauge the likelihood of a link based on node similarity, the proposed approach leverages a known dichotomy in the motif distribution of directed networks. Complex networks are sparse, causing most nodes and their associated links to have low motif participation. Yet, due to intrinsic network motif-richness, few links participate in many distinct motif substructures. Thus, the FFL-based metric combines the presence and absence of motifs as a signature to outperform baseline metrics on ten directed social and biological network datasets. We conclude with the future of the FFL-based metric in dynamic network inference as well as its use in designing combined metrics using network motifs of varying orders as features.
Inferring links in directed complex networks through feed forward loop motifs
Abstract - 24 Nov 2022
From the perspective of large system, a directed complex dynamic network (DCDN) is regarded as being made up of the nodes subsystem (NS) and the links subsystem (LS), which are coupled to each other. Different from previous studies, which propose the dynamic model of LS with the matrix differential equations, this paper describes the dynamic behaviour of LS with the outgoing links vector at every node, by which the dynamic model of LS can be represented as the vector differential equation to form the outgoing links subsystem (OLS). Due to the fact that vectors have more flexible mathematical properties than matrices, this paper proposes the more convenient mathematic method to investigate the double tracking control problem of NS and OLS. Under the condition that the states of NS are available and the states of OLS are unavailable, the asymptotical state observer of OLS is designed, by which the tracking controllers of NS and OLS are synthesised to ensure achieving the double tracking goals. Finally, an example simulation for supporting the theoretical results is also provided.
Abstract - 10 Jan 2024
We propose and analyze a mathematical model for the evolution of opinions on directed complex networks. Our model generalizes the popular DeGroot and Friedkin-Johnsen models by allowing vertices to have attributes that may influence the opinion dynamics. We start by establishing sufficient conditions for the existence of a stationary opinion distribution on any fixed graph, and then provide an increasingly detailed characterization of its behavior by considering a sequence of directed random graphs having a local weak limit. Our most explicit results are obtained for graph sequences whose local weak limit is a marked Galton-Watson tree, in which case our model can be used to explain a variety of phenomena, e.g., conditions under which consensus can be achieved, mechanisms in which opinions can become polarized, and the effect of disruptive stubborn agents on the formation of opinions