Application of discrete Ricci curvature in pruning randomly wired neural networks: A case study with chest x-ray classification of COVID-19

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Autori principali: Elumalai, Pavithra, Vijayaraghavan, Sudharsan, Mondal, Madhumita, Samal, Areejit
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Elumalai, Pavithra
Vijayaraghavan, Sudharsan
Mondal, Madhumita
Samal, Areejit
author_facet Elumalai, Pavithra
Vijayaraghavan, Sudharsan
Mondal, Madhumita
Samal, Areejit
contents Randomly Wired Neural Networks (RWNNs) serve as a valuable testbed for investigating the impact of network topology in deep learning by capturing how different connectivity patterns impact both learning efficiency and model performance. At the same time, they provide a natural framework for exploring edge-centric network measures as tools for pruning and optimization. In this study, we investigate three edge-centric network measures: Forman-Ricci curvature (FRC), Ollivier-Ricci curvature (ORC), and edge betweenness centrality (EBC), to compress RWNNs by selectively retaining important synapses (or edges) while pruning the rest. As a baseline, RWNNs are trained for COVID-19 chest x-ray image classification, aiming to reduce network complexity while preserving performance in terms of accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity. We extend prior work on pruning RWNN using ORC by incorporating two additional edge-centric measures, FRC and EBC, across three network generators: Erdös-Rényi (ER) model, Watts-Strogatz (WS) model, and Barabási-Albert (BA) model. We provide a comparative analysis of the pruning performance of the three measures in terms of compression ratio and theoretical speedup. A central focus of our study is to evaluate whether FRC, which is computationally more efficient than ORC, can achieve comparable pruning effectiveness. Along with performance evaluation, we further investigate the structural properties of the pruned networks through modularity and global efficiency, offering insights into the trade-off between modular segregation and network efficiency in compressed RWNNs. Our results provide initial evidence that FRC-based pruning can effectively simplify RWNNs, offering significant computational advantages while maintaining performance comparable to ORC.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_05322
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Application of discrete Ricci curvature in pruning randomly wired neural networks: A case study with chest x-ray classification of COVID-19
Elumalai, Pavithra
Vijayaraghavan, Sudharsan
Mondal, Madhumita
Samal, Areejit
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Machine Learning
Social and Information Networks
Computational Physics
Randomly Wired Neural Networks (RWNNs) serve as a valuable testbed for investigating the impact of network topology in deep learning by capturing how different connectivity patterns impact both learning efficiency and model performance. At the same time, they provide a natural framework for exploring edge-centric network measures as tools for pruning and optimization. In this study, we investigate three edge-centric network measures: Forman-Ricci curvature (FRC), Ollivier-Ricci curvature (ORC), and edge betweenness centrality (EBC), to compress RWNNs by selectively retaining important synapses (or edges) while pruning the rest. As a baseline, RWNNs are trained for COVID-19 chest x-ray image classification, aiming to reduce network complexity while preserving performance in terms of accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity. We extend prior work on pruning RWNN using ORC by incorporating two additional edge-centric measures, FRC and EBC, across three network generators: Erdös-Rényi (ER) model, Watts-Strogatz (WS) model, and Barabási-Albert (BA) model. We provide a comparative analysis of the pruning performance of the three measures in terms of compression ratio and theoretical speedup. A central focus of our study is to evaluate whether FRC, which is computationally more efficient than ORC, can achieve comparable pruning effectiveness. Along with performance evaluation, we further investigate the structural properties of the pruned networks through modularity and global efficiency, offering insights into the trade-off between modular segregation and network efficiency in compressed RWNNs. Our results provide initial evidence that FRC-based pruning can effectively simplify RWNNs, offering significant computational advantages while maintaining performance comparable to ORC.
title Application of discrete Ricci curvature in pruning randomly wired neural networks: A case study with chest x-ray classification of COVID-19
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Machine Learning
Social and Information Networks
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.05322