We propose a method for obtaining parsimonious decompositions of networks into higher order interactions which can take the form of arbitrary motifs.The method is based on a class of analytically solvable generative models, where vertices are connected via explicit copies of motifs, which in combination with non-parametric priors allow us to infer higher order interactions from dyadic graph data without any prior knowledge on the types or frequencies of such interactions. Crucially, we also consider 'degree--corrected' models that correctly reflect the degree distribution of the network and consequently prove to be a better fit for many real world--networks compared to non-degree corrected models. We test the presented approach on simulated data for which we recover the set of underlying higher order interactions to a high degree of accuracy. For empirical networks the method identifies concise sets of atomic subgraphs from within thousands of candidates that cover a large fraction of edges and include higher order interactions of known structural and functional significance. The method not only produces an explicit higher order representation of the network but also a fit of the network to analytically tractable models opening new avenues for the systematic study of higher order network structures.
翻译:我们提出了一种方法,用于将网络简洁分解为可呈现任意模体形式的高阶交互。该方法基于一类可解析求解的生成模型:顶点通过显式的模体拷贝相互连接,结合非参数先验,我们能够从二元图数据中推断高阶交互,而无需任何关于此类交互类型或频率的先验知识。关键的是,我们还考虑了“度校正”模型,该模型正确反映了网络的度分布,因此相较非度校正模型,能更好地拟合许多现实世界网络。我们在模拟数据上测试了所提出的方法,以高精度恢复了潜在的高阶交互集合。对于实证网络,该方法能从数千个候选子图中识别出简洁的原子子图集合,这些子图覆盖了大部分边,并包含具有已知结构和功能意义的高阶交互。该方法不仅生成了网络的显式高阶表示,还实现了网络对可解析模型的拟合,为高阶网络结构的系统性研究开辟了新途径。