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Main Authors: He, Yong, Huang, Zizhou, Jing, Bingyi, Li, Diqing
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.20219
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author He, Yong
Huang, Zizhou
Jing, Bingyi
Li, Diqing
author_facet He, Yong
Huang, Zizhou
Jing, Bingyi
Li, Diqing
contents In this paper we focus on jointly estimating the edge probabilities for multi-layer networks. We define a novel multi-layer graphon, a ternary function in contrast to the bivariate graphon function in the literature by introducing an additional latent layer position parameter, which is model-free and covers a wide range of multi-layer networks. We develop a computationally efficient two-step neighborhood smoothing algorithm to estimate the edge probabilities of multi-layer networks, which requires little tuning and fully utilize the similarity across both network layers and nodes. Numerical experiments demonstrate the advantages of our method over the existing state-of-the-art ones. A real Worldwide Food Import/Export Network dataset example is analyzed to illustrate the better performance of the proposed method over benchmark methods in terms of link prediction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_20219
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Joint Estimation of Edge Probabilities for Multi-layer Networks via Neighborhood Smoothing
He, Yong
Huang, Zizhou
Jing, Bingyi
Li, Diqing
Methodology
In this paper we focus on jointly estimating the edge probabilities for multi-layer networks. We define a novel multi-layer graphon, a ternary function in contrast to the bivariate graphon function in the literature by introducing an additional latent layer position parameter, which is model-free and covers a wide range of multi-layer networks. We develop a computationally efficient two-step neighborhood smoothing algorithm to estimate the edge probabilities of multi-layer networks, which requires little tuning and fully utilize the similarity across both network layers and nodes. Numerical experiments demonstrate the advantages of our method over the existing state-of-the-art ones. A real Worldwide Food Import/Export Network dataset example is analyzed to illustrate the better performance of the proposed method over benchmark methods in terms of link prediction.
title Joint Estimation of Edge Probabilities for Multi-layer Networks via Neighborhood Smoothing
topic Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.20219