Latent space models for grouped multiplex networks

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kagan, Alexander, MacDonald, Peter W., Levina, Elizaveta, Zhu, Ji
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866918370564112384
author Kagan, Alexander
MacDonald, Peter W.
Levina, Elizaveta
Zhu, Ji
author_facet Kagan, Alexander
MacDonald, Peter W.
Levina, Elizaveta
Zhu, Ji
contents Complex multilayer network datasets have become ubiquitous in various applications, including neuroscience, social sciences, economics, and genetics. Notable examples include brain connectivity networks collected across multiple patients or trade networks between countries collected across multiple goods. Existing statistical approaches to such data typically focus on modeling the structure shared by all networks; some go further by accounting for individual, layer-specific variation. However, real-world multilayer networks often exhibit additional patterns shared only within certain subsets of layers, which can represent treatment and control groups, or patients grouped by a specific trait. Identifying these group-level structures can uncover systematic differences between groups of networks and influence many downstream tasks, such as testing and low-dimensional visualization. To address this gap, we introduce the GroupMultiNeSS model, which enables the simultaneous extraction of shared, group-specific, and individual latent structures from a sample of networks on a shared node set. For this model, we establish identifiability, develop a fitting procedure using convex optimization in combination with a nuclear norm penalty, and prove a guarantee of recovery for the latent positions as long as there is sufficient separation between the shared, group-specific, and individual latent subspaces. We compare the model with MultiNeSS and other models for multiplex networks in various synthetic scenarios and observe an apparent improvement in the modeling accuracy when the group component is accounted for. Experiment with the Parkinson's disease brain connectivity dataset demonstrates the superiority of GroupMultiNeSS in highlighting node-level insights on biological differences between the treatment and control patient groups.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_11086
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Latent space models for grouped multiplex networks
Kagan, Alexander
MacDonald, Peter W.
Levina, Elizaveta
Zhu, Ji
Social and Information Networks
Complex multilayer network datasets have become ubiquitous in various applications, including neuroscience, social sciences, economics, and genetics. Notable examples include brain connectivity networks collected across multiple patients or trade networks between countries collected across multiple goods. Existing statistical approaches to such data typically focus on modeling the structure shared by all networks; some go further by accounting for individual, layer-specific variation. However, real-world multilayer networks often exhibit additional patterns shared only within certain subsets of layers, which can represent treatment and control groups, or patients grouped by a specific trait. Identifying these group-level structures can uncover systematic differences between groups of networks and influence many downstream tasks, such as testing and low-dimensional visualization. To address this gap, we introduce the GroupMultiNeSS model, which enables the simultaneous extraction of shared, group-specific, and individual latent structures from a sample of networks on a shared node set. For this model, we establish identifiability, develop a fitting procedure using convex optimization in combination with a nuclear norm penalty, and prove a guarantee of recovery for the latent positions as long as there is sufficient separation between the shared, group-specific, and individual latent subspaces. We compare the model with MultiNeSS and other models for multiplex networks in various synthetic scenarios and observe an apparent improvement in the modeling accuracy when the group component is accounted for. Experiment with the Parkinson's disease brain connectivity dataset demonstrates the superiority of GroupMultiNeSS in highlighting node-level insights on biological differences between the treatment and control patient groups.
title Latent space models for grouped multiplex networks
topic Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.11086