Means of Hitting Times for Random Walks on Graphs: Connections, Computation, and Optimization

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Main Authors: Xia, Haisong, Xu, Wanyue, Zhang, Zuobai, Zhang, Zhongzhi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Xia, Haisong
Xu, Wanyue
Zhang, Zuobai
Zhang, Zhongzhi
author_facet Xia, Haisong
Xu, Wanyue
Zhang, Zuobai
Zhang, Zhongzhi
contents For random walks on graph $\mathcal{G}$ with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, the mean hitting time $H_j$ from a vertex chosen from the stationary distribution to vertex $j$ measures the importance for $j$, while the Kemeny constant $\mathcal{K}$ is the mean hitting time from one vertex to another selected randomly according to the stationary distribution. In this paper, we first establish a connection between the two quantities, representing $\mathcal{K}$ in terms of $H_j$ for all vertices. We then develop an efficient algorithm estimating $H_j$ for all vertices and \(\mathcal{K}\) in nearly linear time of $m$. Moreover, we extend the centrality $H_j$ of a single vertex to $H(S)$ of a vertex set $S$, and establish a link between $H(S)$ and some other quantities. We further study the NP-hard problem of selecting a group $S$ of $k\ll n$ vertices with minimum $H(S)$, whose objective function is monotonic and supermodular. We finally propose two greedy algorithms approximately solving the problem. The former has an approximation factor $(1-\frac{k}{k-1}\frac{1}{e})$ and $O(kn^3)$ running time, while the latter returns a $(1-\frac{k}{k-1}\frac{1}{e}-ε)$-approximation solution in nearly-linear time of $m$, for any parameter $0<ε<1$. Extensive experiment results validate the performance of our algorithms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_11160
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Means of Hitting Times for Random Walks on Graphs: Connections, Computation, and Optimization
Xia, Haisong
Xu, Wanyue
Zhang, Zuobai
Zhang, Zhongzhi
Social and Information Networks
For random walks on graph $\mathcal{G}$ with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, the mean hitting time $H_j$ from a vertex chosen from the stationary distribution to vertex $j$ measures the importance for $j$, while the Kemeny constant $\mathcal{K}$ is the mean hitting time from one vertex to another selected randomly according to the stationary distribution. In this paper, we first establish a connection between the two quantities, representing $\mathcal{K}$ in terms of $H_j$ for all vertices. We then develop an efficient algorithm estimating $H_j$ for all vertices and \(\mathcal{K}\) in nearly linear time of $m$. Moreover, we extend the centrality $H_j$ of a single vertex to $H(S)$ of a vertex set $S$, and establish a link between $H(S)$ and some other quantities. We further study the NP-hard problem of selecting a group $S$ of $k\ll n$ vertices with minimum $H(S)$, whose objective function is monotonic and supermodular. We finally propose two greedy algorithms approximately solving the problem. The former has an approximation factor $(1-\frac{k}{k-1}\frac{1}{e})$ and $O(kn^3)$ running time, while the latter returns a $(1-\frac{k}{k-1}\frac{1}{e}-ε)$-approximation solution in nearly-linear time of $m$, for any parameter $0<ε<1$. Extensive experiment results validate the performance of our algorithms.
title Means of Hitting Times for Random Walks on Graphs: Connections, Computation, and Optimization
topic Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.11160