Session Z14: Focus Session: Statistical Mechanics of Complex Networks III
11:15 AM–2:15 PM, Friday, March 25, 2011
Room: D227
Sponsoring Unit:
GSNP
Chair: Adilson Motter, Northwestern University
Abstract ID: BAPS.2011.MAR.Z14.7
Abstract: Z14.00007 : Visual analytics for discovering node groups in complex networks
12:27 PM–1:03 PM
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Abstract 
Author:
Takashi Nishikawa
(Clarkson University)
Given the abundance of relational data from a variety of sources, it is becoming increasingly more important to be able to discover hidden structures in the topology of real-world complex networks. In this talk, I will extend the usual definition of groups as densely connected sets of nodes and show that many real networks have groups distinguished by a diverse combinations of node properties, but not by the density of links alone. To overcome the virtually unlimited ways to potentially distinguish groups, we have developed an \textbf{exploratory} analysis tool that exploit human visual ability. In this visual analytical approach, the user input from \textbf{visual interaction} is integrated into the analysis to discover unknown group structures, rather than simply detecting a known type of structure. I will also address the problem of determining an appropriate number of groups, when it is not known \textit{a priori}. I will demonstrate that our method can effectively find and characterize a variety of group structures in model and real-world networks, including community and $k$-partite structures defined by link density, as well as groups distinguished by combinations of other node properties.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2011.MAR.Z14.7