Static community detection algorithms for evolving networks

Thomas Aynaud (1) , Jean-Loup Guillaume (1)

1 ComplexNetworks

Complex networks can often be divided in dense sub-networks called communities. Using a partition edit distance, we study how three community detection algorithms transform their outputs if the input network is slightly modified. The instabilities appear to be important and we propose a modification of one algorithm to stabilize it and to allow the tracking of the communities in an evolving network. This modification has one parameter which is a tradeoff between stability and quality. The resulting algorithm appears to be very effective. We finally use it on an evolving network of blogs.

Keywords: complex networks; evolving communities; stability; tracking; blogs

Domains: Networking and Internet Architecture [cs.NI]

Thomas Aynaud, Jean-Loup Guillaume. Static community detection algorithms for evolving networks. WiOpt'10: Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc, and Wireless Networks, May 2010, Avignon, France. pp.508-514. ⟨inria-00492058⟩