Beyond Linearity and Time-Homogeneity: Relational Hyper Event Models with Time-Varying Non-Linear Effects

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Boschi, Martina, Lerner, Jürgen, Wit, Ernst C.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Boschi, Martina
Lerner, Jürgen
Wit, Ernst C.
author_facet Boschi, Martina
Lerner, Jürgen
Wit, Ernst C.
contents Recent technological advances have made it easier to collect large and complex networks of time-stamped relational events connecting two or more entities. Relational hyper-event models (RHEMs) aim to explain the dynamics of these events by modeling the event rate as a function of statistics based on past history and external information. However, despite the complexity of the data, most current RHEM approaches still rely on a linearity assumption to model this relationship. In this work, we address this limitation by introducing a more flexible model that allows the effects of statistics to vary non-linearly and over time. While time-varying and non-linear effects have been used in relational event modeling, we take this further by modeling joint time-varying and non-linear effects using tensor product smooths. We validate our methodology on both synthetic and empirical data. In particular, we use RHEMs to study how patterns of scientific collaboration and impact evolve over time. Our approach provides deeper insights into the dynamic factors driving relational hyper-events, allowing us to evaluate potential non-monotonic patterns that cannot be identified using linear models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_05289
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Beyond Linearity and Time-Homogeneity: Relational Hyper Event Models with Time-Varying Non-Linear Effects
Boschi, Martina
Lerner, Jürgen
Wit, Ernst C.
Methodology
Machine Learning
Applications
Recent technological advances have made it easier to collect large and complex networks of time-stamped relational events connecting two or more entities. Relational hyper-event models (RHEMs) aim to explain the dynamics of these events by modeling the event rate as a function of statistics based on past history and external information. However, despite the complexity of the data, most current RHEM approaches still rely on a linearity assumption to model this relationship. In this work, we address this limitation by introducing a more flexible model that allows the effects of statistics to vary non-linearly and over time. While time-varying and non-linear effects have been used in relational event modeling, we take this further by modeling joint time-varying and non-linear effects using tensor product smooths. We validate our methodology on both synthetic and empirical data. In particular, we use RHEMs to study how patterns of scientific collaboration and impact evolve over time. Our approach provides deeper insights into the dynamic factors driving relational hyper-events, allowing us to evaluate potential non-monotonic patterns that cannot be identified using linear models.
title Beyond Linearity and Time-Homogeneity: Relational Hyper Event Models with Time-Varying Non-Linear Effects
topic Methodology
Machine Learning
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.05289