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Finding communities in linear time: a physics approach

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Abstract.

We present a method that allows for the discovery of communities within graphs of arbitrary size in times that scale linearly with their size. This method avoids edge cutting and is based on notions of voltage drops across networks that are both intuitive and easy to solve regardless of the complexity of the graph involved. We additionally show how this algorithm allows for the swift discovery of the community surrounding a given node without having to extract all the communities out of a graph.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Physics Department, Stanford University, CA 94305, Stanford, USA

    F. Wu

  2. HP Labs, CA 94304, Palo Alto, USA

    B. A. Huberman

Authors
  1. F. Wu
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  2. B. A. Huberman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. A. Huberman.

Additional information

Received: 29 October 2003, Published online: 14 May 2004

PACS:

89.75.Fb Structures and organization in complex systems - 89.75.Hc Networks and genealogical trees

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Wu, F., Huberman, B.A. Finding communities in linear time: a physics approach. Eur. Phys. J. B 38, 331–338 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00125-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00125-x

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