Motif Dynamics in Signed Directional Complex Networks

TL;DR

This paper investigates how motifs in signed, directed complex networks change over time, revealing correlations with system size and insights into social relationships.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of motif dynamics in signed directed networks and applies it to both models and real-world data, uncovering structural insights.

Findings

Non-cyclic motifs correlate more with system size.

Motif dynamics provide insights into social relationships.

Empirical data confirms theoretical predictions.

Abstract

Complex networks evolve and vary their structure as time goes by. In particular, the links in those networks have both a sign and a directionality. To understand their structural principles, we measure the network motifs, which are patterns that appear much more than one would expect in randomized networks, considering both link properties. We propose motif dynamics, which is a study to investigate the change in the number of motifs, and applied the motif dynamics to an open evolving network model and empirical data. We confirm that a non-cyclic motif has a greater correlation with the system size than a cyclic structural motif. Furthermore, the motif dynamics can give us insight into the friendship between freshmen in a university.