1208.0588 (René Pfitzner et al.)

Betweenness Preference: Quantifying Correlations in the Topological
Dynamics of Temporal Networks    [PDF]

René Pfitzner, Ingo Scholtes, Antonios Garas, Claudio J. Tessone, Frank Schweitzer

Time-evolving interaction patterns studied in different contexts can be well represented by temporal networks in which nodes are intermittently connected. In this manuscript we introduce the notion of betweenness preference in the study of temporal networks. It captures how likely a certain node is to mediate interactions between particular pairs of its neighboring nodes. We argue that betweenness preference is an important correlation to consider in the analysis of temporal network data. In particular, it allows to assess to which extent paths existing in time-aggregated, static representations of temporal networks are actually feasible based on the underlying sequence of interactions. We argue that betweenness preference correlations are present in empirical data sets. We further show that neglecting betweenness preference will lead to significantly wrong statements about spreading dynamics in temporal networks.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.0588