2021/01/20 by Giovanna Menardi, Domenico De Stefano, Menardi, Giovanna +1 · 2 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #62P25 #Advanced Clustering Algorithms Research #Applications (stat.AP) #Complex Network Analysis Techniques #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Social and Information Networks (cs.SI)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2101.08334
openalex publication_date 2021/01/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The idea underlying the modal formulation of density-based clustering is to associate groups with the regions around the modes of the probability density function underlying the data. This correspondence between clusters and dense regions in the sample space is here exploited to discuss an extension of this approach to the analysis of social networks. Such extension seems particularly appealing: conceptually, the notion of high-density cluster fits well the one of community in a network, regarded to as a collection of individuals with dense local ties in its neighbourhood. The lack of a probabilistic notion of density in networks is turned into a major strength of the proposed method, where node-wise measures that quantify the role and position of actors may be used to derive different community configurations. The approach allows for the identification of a hierarchical structure of clusters, which may catch different degrees of resolution of the clustering structure. This feature well fits the nature of social networks, disentangling a different involvement of individuals in social aggregations.