Stability of Aggregation Graph Neural Networks

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the stability of aggregation graph neural networks (Agg-GNNs) under graph perturbations, deriving bounds and conditions for stability, and highlighting differences from other GNN architectures.

Contribution

It provides the first theoretical stability bounds for Agg-GNNs, linking filter properties to stability and contrasting with selection GNNs.

Findings

Stability bounds depend on first-layer filter properties.

Number of aggregations influences stability constants.

Numerical experiments confirm theoretical results.

Abstract

In this paper we study the stability properties of aggregation graph neural networks (Agg-GNNs) considering perturbations of the underlying graph. An Agg-GNN is a hybrid architecture where information is defined on the nodes of a graph, but it is processed block-wise by Euclidean CNNs on the nodes after several diffusions on the graph shift operator. We derive stability bounds for the mapping operator associated to a generic Agg-GNN, and we specify conditions under which such operators can be stable to deformations. We prove that the stability bounds are defined by the properties of the filters in the first layer of the CNN that acts on each node. Additionally, we show that there is a close relationship between the number of aggregations, the filter's selectivity, and the size of the stability constants. We also conclude that in Agg-GNNs the selectivity of the mapping operators is tied to the properties of the filters only in the first layer of the CNN stage. This shows a substantial difference with respect to the stability properties of selection GNNs, where the selectivity of the filters in all layers is constrained by their stability. We provide numerical evidence corroborating the results derived, testing the behavior of Agg-GNNs in real life application scenarios considering perturbations of different magnitude.