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2017 | Book

Computational Intelligence for Network Structure Analytics

Authors: Maoguo Gong, Qing Cai, Lijia Ma, Shanfeng Wang, Yu Lei

Publisher: Springer Singapore

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About this book

This book presents the latest research advances in complex network structure analytics based on computational intelligence (CI) approaches, particularly evolutionary optimization. Most if not all network issues are actually optimization problems, which are mostly NP-hard and challenge conventional optimization techniques. To effectively and efficiently solve these hard optimization problems, CI based network structure analytics offer significant advantages over conventional network analytics techniques. Meanwhile, using CI techniques may facilitate smart decision making by providing multiple options to choose from, while conventional methods can only offer a decision maker a single suggestion. In addition, CI based network structure analytics can greatly facilitate network modeling and analysis. And employing CI techniques to resolve network issues is likely to inspire other fields of study such as recommender systems, system biology, etc., which will in turn expand CI’s scope and applications.
As a comprehensive text, the book covers a range of key topics, including network community discovery, evolutionary optimization, network structure balance analytics, network robustness analytics, community-based personalized recommendation, influence maximization, and biological network alignment.
Offering a rich blend of theory and practice, the book is suitable for students, researchers and practitioners interested in network analytics and computational intelligence, both as a textbook and as a reference work.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
Complex network structure analytics contribute greatly to the understanding of complex systems, such as Internet, social network, and biological network. Many issues in network structure analytics, for example, community detection, structure balance, and influence maximization, can be formulated as optimization problems. These problems usually are NP-hard and nonconvex, and generally cannot be well solved by canonical optimization techniques. Computational intelligence-based algorithms have been proved to be effective and efficient for network structure analytics. This chapter gives a holistic overview of complex networks and the emerging topics concerning network structure analytics as well as some basic optimization models for network issues.
Maoguo Gong, Qing Cai, Lijia Ma, Shanfeng Wang, Yu Lei
Chapter 2. Network Community Discovery with Evolutionary Single-Objective Optimization
Abstract
Network community detection is one of the most fundamental problems in network structure analytics. With the modularity and modularity density being put forward, network community detection is formulated as a single-objective optimization problem and then communities of network can be discovered by optimizing modularity or modularity density. However, the community detection by optimizing modularity or modularity density is NP-hard. The computational intelligence algorithm, especially for evolutionary single-objective algorithms, have been effectively applied to discover communities from networks. This chapter focuses on evolutionary single-objective algorithms for solving network community discovery. First this chapter reviews evolutionary single-objective algorithm for network community discovery. Then three representative algorithms and their performances of discovering communities are introduced in detail.
Maoguo Gong, Qing Cai, Lijia Ma, Shanfeng Wang, Yu Lei
Chapter 3. Network Community Discovery with Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization
Abstract
As described in the previous chapters, the community discovery problems can be formulated as single-objective optimization problems. But it is difficult for single-objective optimization algorithms to reveal community structures at multiple resolution levels. The multi-resolution communities can effectively reflect the hierarchical structures of complex networks. In this chapter, we model the multi-resolution community detection problems as multi-objective optimization problems. And thereafter, we use four different evolutionary multi-objective algorithm for solving the multi-resolution community detection based multi-objective optimization problems. Among the four algorithms, three algorithms adopt the framework of MOEA/D, MODPSO, and NNIA to detect multi-resolution communities in undirected and static networks, and an algorithm uses the framework of MOEA/D to detect multi-resolution communities in dynamic networks.
Maoguo Gong, Qing Cai, Lijia Ma, Shanfeng Wang, Yu Lei
Chapter 4. Network Structure Balance Analytics with Evolutionary Optimization
Abstract
Structural balance enables a comprehensive understanding of the potential tensions and conflicts beneath signed networks, and its computation and transformation have attracted increasing attention in recent years. The balance computation aims at evaluating the distance from an unbalanced network to a balanced one, and the balance transformation is to convert an unbalanced network into a balanced one. This chapter focuses on evolutionary algorithms to solve network structure balance problem. First, this chapter overviews recent works on the evolutionary computations for structure balance computation and transformation in signed networks. Then, two representative memetic algorithm for the computation of structure balance in a strong definition are introduced. Next, a multilevel learning based memetic algorithm for the balance computation and the balance transformation of signed networks in a weak definition are presented. Finally, a two-step method based on evolutionary multi-objective optimization for weak structure balance are presented.
Maoguo Gong, Qing Cai, Lijia Ma, Shanfeng Wang, Yu Lei
Chapter 5. Network Robustness Analytics with Optimization
Abstract
The community structure and the robustness are two important properties of networks for analyzing the functionality of complex systems. The community structure is crucial to understand the potential functionality of complex systems, while the robustness is indispensable to protect the functionality of complex systems from malicious attacks. When a network suffers from an unpredictable attack, its structural integrity would be damaged. It is essential to enhance community integrity of networks against multilevel targeted attacks. Coupled networks are extremely fragile because a node failure of a network would trigger a cascade of failures on the entire system. In reality, it is necessary to recover the damaged networks, and there are cascading failures in recovery processes. This chapter first introduces a greedy algorithm to enhance community integrity of networks against multilevel targeted attacks and then introduces a technique aiming at protecting several influential nodes for enhancing robustness of coupled networks under the recoveries.
Maoguo Gong, Qing Cai, Lijia Ma, Shanfeng Wang, Yu Lei
Chapter 6. Real-World Cases of Network Structure Analytics
Abstract
In complex systems, except for the issues discussed in previous chapters, the issues, including recommender system, network alignment and influence maximization etc. are also NP-hard problems, and they can be modeled as optimization problems. Computational intelligence algorithms, especially evolutionary algorithms, have been successfully employed to these network structure analytics topics. In this chapter, we will present how to use computational intelligence techniques to tackle the recommendation system, the network alignment, and the influence maximization problem in complex networks. First, an evolutionary multiobjective algorithm is used for recommendation. And then, a memetic algorithm for influence maximization is introduced. Finally, a memetic algorithm for global biological network alignment is presented.
Maoguo Gong, Qing Cai, Lijia Ma, Shanfeng Wang, Yu Lei
Chapter 7. Concluding Remarks
Abstract
This book covers most fundamental network structure analytics topics and computational intelligence methods. In previous chapters, we have reviewed the concepts of complex networks and the emerging topics concerning network structure analytics as well as some basic optimization models of these network structure analytics issues. Besides the addressed topics introduced in previous chapters, there are many other network structure analytics topics, such as network construction, information backbone mining, structure analytics of large-scale networks, etc. These topics can also be formulated as optimization problems and may be well solved by computational intelligence methods. In this chapter, we will give several future research directions that we are working on.
Maoguo Gong, Qing Cai, Lijia Ma, Shanfeng Wang, Yu Lei
Metadata
Title
Computational Intelligence for Network Structure Analytics
Authors
Maoguo Gong
Qing Cai
Lijia Ma
Shanfeng Wang
Yu Lei
Copyright Year
2017
Publisher
Springer Singapore
Electronic ISBN
978-981-10-4558-5
Print ISBN
978-981-10-4557-8
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4558-5

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