arXiv · 2504.03397
Leveraging Network Topology in a Two-way Competition for Influence in the Friedkin-Johnsen Model
Abstract
In this paper, we consider two stubborn agents who compete for `influence' over a strongly connected group of agents. This framework represents real-world contests, such as competition among firms, two-party elections, and sports rivalries, among others. Considering stubbornness of agents to be an immutable property, we utilise the network topology alone to increase the influence of a preferred stubborn agent. We demonstrate this on a special class of strongly connected networks by identifying the supporters of each of the stubborn agents in such networks. Thereafter, we present sufficient conditions under which a network perturbation always increases the influence of the preferred stubborn agent. A key advantage of the proposed topology-based conditions is that they hold independent of the edge weights in the network. Most importantly, we assert that there exists a sequence of perturbations that can make the lesser influential stubborn agent more influential. Finally, we demonstrate our results over the Sampson's Monastery dataset.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Aashi Shrinate, Twinkle Tripathy. 2025-04-04. Leveraging Network Topology in a Two-way Competition for Influence in the Friedkin-Johnsen Model. https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.03397
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.