Taxonomy of Cohesion Coefficients for Weighted and Directed Multilayer Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a systematic taxonomy of cohesion coefficients for weighted directed multilayer networks, extending classical measures with a new clumping coefficient and demonstrating their effectiveness through simulations.

Contribution

It develops a unified tensor-based framework for various cohesion coefficients, including a novel clumping coefficient, tailored for multilayer networks.

Findings

The new coefficients effectively capture network structure at multiple scales.

Tensor formalism unifies existing and new cohesion measures.

Applications show improved structural characterization of networks.

Abstract

Clustering and closure coefficients are among the most widely applied indicators in the description of the topological structure of a network. Many distinct definitions have been proposed over time, particularly in the case of weighted networks, where the choice of the weight attributed to the triangles is a crucial aspect. In the present work, in the framework of weighted directed multilayer networks, we extend the classical clustering and closure coefficients through the introduction of the clumping coefficient, which generalizes them to incomplete triangles of any type. We then organize the class of these coefficients in a systematic taxonomy in the more general context of weighted directed multilayer networks. Such cohesion coefficients have also been adapted to the different scales that characterize a multilayer network, in order to grasp their structure from different perspectives. We also show how the tensor formalism allows incorporating the new definitions, as well as all those existing in the literature, in a single unified writing, in such a way that a suitable choice of the involved adjacency tensors allows obtaining each of them. Finally, through some applications to simulated networks, we show the effectiveness of the proposed coefficients in capturing different peculiarities of the network structure on different scales.