arXiv subjects

Fragkiskos Papadopoulos

Publications and source records attributed to Fragkiskos Papadopoulos.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Hamiltonian Dynamics of Preferential Attachment

Prediction and control of network dynamics are grand-challenge problems in network science. The lack of understanding of fundamental laws driving the dynamics of networks is among the reasons why many practical problems of great significance remain unsolved for decades. Here we study the dynamics of networks evolving according to preferential attachment, known to approximate well the large-scale growth dynamics of a variety of real networks. We show that this dynamics is Hamiltonian, thus casting the study of complex networks dynamics to the powerful canonical formalism, in which the time evolution of a dynamical system is described by Hamilton's equations. We derive the explicit form of the Hamiltonian that governs network growth in preferential attachment. This Hamiltonian turns out to be nearly identical to graph energy in the configuration model, which shows that the ensemble of random graphs generated by preferential attachment is nearly identical to the ensemble of random graphs with scale-free degree distributions. In other words, preferential attachment generates nothing but random graphs with power-law degree distribution. The extension of the developed canonical formalism for network analysis to richer geometric network models with non-degenerate groups of symmetries may eventually lead to a system of equations describing network dynamics at small scales.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2015

Network Geometry Inference using Common Neighbors

We introduce and explore a new method for inferring hidden geometric coordinates of nodes in complex networks based on the number of common neighbors between the nodes. We compare this approach to the HyperMap method, which is based only on the connections (and disconnections) between the nodes, i.e., on the links that the nodes have (or do not have). We find that for high degree nodes the common-neighbors approach yields a more accurate inference than the link-based method, unless heuristic periodic adjustments (or "correction steps") are used in the latter. The common-neighbors approach is computationally intensive, requiring $O(t^4)$ running time to map a network of $t$ nodes, versus $O(t^3)$ in the link-based method. But we also develop a hybrid method with $O(t^3)$ running time, which combines the common-neighbors and link-based approaches, and explore a heuristic that reduces its running time further to $O(t^2)$, without significant reduction in the mapping accuracy. We apply this method to the Autonomous Systems (AS) Internet, and reveal how soft communities of ASes evolve over time in the similarity space. We further demonstrate the method's predictive power by forecasting future links between ASes. Taken altogether, our results advance our understanding of how to efficiently and accurately map real networks to their latent geometric spaces, which is an important necessary step towards understanding the laws that govern the dynamics of nodes in these spaces, and the fine-grained dynamics of network connections.

cs.SI↗

arXiv2014

Performance Rescaling of Complex Networks

Recent progress in network topology modeling [1], [2] has shown that it is possible to create smaller-scale replicas of large complex networks, like the Internet, while simultaneously preserving several important topological properties. However, the constructed replicas do not include notions of capacities and latencies, and the fundamental question of whether smaller networks can reproduce the performance of larger networks remains unanswered. We address this question in this letter, and show that it is possible to predict the performance of larger networks from smaller replicas, as long as the right link capacities and propagation delays are assigned to the replica's links. Our procedure is inspired by techniques introduced in [2] and combines a time-downscaling argument from [3]. We show that significant computational savings can be achieved when simulating smaller-scale replicas with TCP and UDP traffic, with simulation times being reduced by up to two orders of magnitude.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2014

Network Mapping by Replaying Hyperbolic Growth

Recent years have shown a promising progress in understanding geometric underpinnings behind the structure, function, and dynamics of many complex networks in nature and society. However these promises cannot be readily fulfilled and lead to important practical applications, without a simple, reliable, and fast network mapping method to infer the latent geometric coordinates of nodes in a real network. Here we present HyperMap, a simple method to map a given real network to its hyperbolic space. The method utilizes a recent geometric theory of complex networks modeled as random geometric graphs in hyperbolic spaces. The method replays the network's geometric growth, estimating at each time step the hyperbolic coordinates of new nodes in a growing network by maximizing the likelihood of the network snapshot in the model. We apply HyperMap to the AS Internet, and find that: 1) the method produces meaningful results, identifying soft communities of ASs belonging to the same geographic region; 2) the method has a remarkable predictive power: using the resulting map, we can predict missing links in the Internet with high precision, outperforming popular existing methods; and 3) the resulting map is highly navigable, meaning that a vast majority of greedy geometric routing paths are successful and low-stretch. Even though the method is not without limitations, and is open for improvement, it occupies a unique attractive position in the space of trade-offs between simplicity, accuracy, and computational complexity.

cs.SI↗

arXiv2013

Popularity versus Similarity in Growing Networks

Popularity is attractive -- this is the formula underlying preferential attachment, a popular explanation for the emergence of scaling in growing networks. If new connections are made preferentially to more popular nodes, then the resulting distribution of the number of connections that nodes have follows power laws observed in many real networks. Preferential attachment has been directly validated for some real networks, including the Internet. Preferential attachment can also be a consequence of different underlying processes based on node fitness, ranking, optimization, random walks, or duplication. Here we show that popularity is just one dimension of attractiveness. Another dimension is similarity. We develop a framework where new connections, instead of preferring popular nodes, optimize certain trade-offs between popularity and similarity. The framework admits a geometric interpretation, in which popularity preference emerges from local optimization. As opposed to preferential attachment, the optimization framework accurately describes large-scale evolution of technological (Internet), social (web of trust), and biological (E.coli metabolic) networks, predicting the probability of new links in them with a remarkable precision. The developed framework can thus be used for predicting new links in evolving networks, and provides a different perspective on preferential attachment as an emergent phenomenon.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2010

Sustaining the Internet with Hyperbolic Mapping

The Internet infrastructure is severely stressed. Rapidly growing overheads associated with the primary function of the Internet---routing information packets between any two computers in the world---cause concerns among Internet experts that the existing Internet routing architecture may not sustain even another decade. Here we present a method to map the Internet to a hyperbolic space. Guided with the constructed map, which we release with this paper, Internet routing exhibits scaling properties close to theoretically best possible, thus resolving serious scaling limitations that the Internet faces today. Besides this immediate practical viability, our network mapping method can provide a different perspective on the community structure in complex networks.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2010

Hyperbolic Geometry of Complex Networks

We develop a geometric framework to study the structure and function of complex networks. We assume that hyperbolic geometry underlies these networks, and we show that with this assumption, heterogeneous degree distributions and strong clustering in complex networks emerge naturally as simple reflections of the negative curvature and metric property of the underlying hyperbolic geometry. Conversely, we show that if a network has some metric structure, and if the network degree distribution is heterogeneous, then the network has an effective hyperbolic geometry underneath. We then establish a mapping between our geometric framework and statistical mechanics of complex networks. This mapping interprets edges in a network as non-interacting fermions whose energies are hyperbolic distances between nodes, while the auxiliary fields coupled to edges are linear functions of these energies or distances. The geometric network ensemble subsumes the standard configuration model and classical random graphs as two limiting cases with degenerate geometric structures. Finally, we show that targeted transport processes without global topology knowledge, made possible by our geometric framework, are maximally efficient, according to all efficiency measures, in networks with strongest heterogeneity and clustering, and that this efficiency is remarkably robust with respect to even catastrophic disturbances and damages to the network structure.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Greedy Forwarding in Dynamic Scale-Free Networks Embedded in Hyperbolic Metric Spaces

We show that complex (scale-free) network topologies naturally emerge from hyperbolic metric spaces. Hyperbolic geometry facilitates maximally efficient greedy forwarding in these networks. Greedy forwarding is topology-oblivious. Nevertheless, greedy packets find their destinations with 100% probability following almost optimal shortest paths. This remarkable efficiency sustains even in highly dynamic networks. Our findings suggest that forwarding information through complex networks, such as the Internet, is possible without the overhead of existing routing protocols, and may also find practical applications in overlay networks for tasks such as application-level routing, information sharing, and data distribution.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Curvature and temperature of complex networks

We show that heterogeneous degree distributions in observed scale-free topologies of complex networks can emerge as a consequence of the exponential expansion of hidden hyperbolic space. Fermi-Dirac statistics provides a physical interpretation of hyperbolic distances as energies of links. The hidden space curvature affects the heterogeneity of the degree distribution, while clustering is a function of temperature. We embed the Internet into the hyperbolic plane, and find a remarkable congruency between the embedding and our hyperbolic model. Besides proving our model realistic, this embedding may be used for routing with only local information, which holds significant promise for improving the performance of Internet routing.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗