DIMACS TR: 2007-19

Betweenness Centrality Measure in Dynamic Networks



Authors: Habiba, Chayant Tantipathananandh and Tanya Y. Berger-Wolf

ABSTRACT

In this paper we propose three methods of measuring betweenness of individuals in networks which are best modeled as graphs with explicit time ordering on their edges. The betweenness centrality index is one of the basic measure in the analysis of social networks, but most of the work done for measuring the betweenness index of individuals is based on the aggregate representation of the network. Many network problems are based on fundamental relationship involving time. We incorporate the time factor in the aggregate graph representation of social networks to create dynamic networks. We define and measure the betweenness in this dynamic framework. We compare the three betweenness with the standard betweenness measure for the same network. We show that by incorporating the exact times of interactions among individuals in a network, we can better study the betweenness of individuals in the underlying network.

Paper Available at: ftp://dimacs.rutgers.edu/pub/dimacs/TechnicalReports/TechReports/2007/2007-19.ps.gz
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