A Novel Method to Identify Important Edges in a Directed Network

Identifying the key components in complex systems is crucial for ensuring the functionality and integrity of the system. For directed networks, both nodes and edges are critical components, but little attention has been drawn to the important edges. In this paper, a novel method, Cooperation–Competi...

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Main Authors: Saiyu Yuan, Wenqiang Liu, Guanghui Yan, Hongwu Tang, Xing Cheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Axioms
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/4/258
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author Saiyu Yuan
Wenqiang Liu
Guanghui Yan
Hongwu Tang
Xing Cheng
author_facet Saiyu Yuan
Wenqiang Liu
Guanghui Yan
Hongwu Tang
Xing Cheng
author_sort Saiyu Yuan
collection DOAJ
description Identifying the key components in complex systems is crucial for ensuring the functionality and integrity of the system. For directed networks, both nodes and edges are critical components, but little attention has been drawn to the important edges. In this paper, a novel method, Cooperation–Competition Centrality (Co-Com Centrality), has been proposed to quantify the edge importance in a directed network. This method utilizes cooperation and competition relationships to integrate the local and global information about the network. We compare the performance of Co-Com Centrality with five typical methods in nine networks; the experiments show that Co-Com Centrality can accurately identify edges which are crucial for maintaining global network efficiency and network stability, while also accurately assessing the edge importance.
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series Axioms
spelling doaj-art-3eea13d2fec2466995a841904d2b00252025-08-20T02:24:39ZengMDPI AGAxioms2075-16802025-03-0114425810.3390/axioms14040258A Novel Method to Identify Important Edges in a Directed NetworkSaiyu Yuan0Wenqiang Liu1Guanghui Yan2Hongwu Tang3Xing Cheng4The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaSchool of Mathematics, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaThe National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaThe National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaSchool of Mathematics, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaIdentifying the key components in complex systems is crucial for ensuring the functionality and integrity of the system. For directed networks, both nodes and edges are critical components, but little attention has been drawn to the important edges. In this paper, a novel method, Cooperation–Competition Centrality (Co-Com Centrality), has been proposed to quantify the edge importance in a directed network. This method utilizes cooperation and competition relationships to integrate the local and global information about the network. We compare the performance of Co-Com Centrality with five typical methods in nine networks; the experiments show that Co-Com Centrality can accurately identify edges which are crucial for maintaining global network efficiency and network stability, while also accurately assessing the edge importance.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/4/258complex networksedge importancedirected networkscooperationcompetition
spellingShingle Saiyu Yuan
Wenqiang Liu
Guanghui Yan
Hongwu Tang
Xing Cheng
A Novel Method to Identify Important Edges in a Directed Network
Axioms
complex networks
edge importance
directed networks
cooperation
competition
title A Novel Method to Identify Important Edges in a Directed Network
title_full A Novel Method to Identify Important Edges in a Directed Network
title_fullStr A Novel Method to Identify Important Edges in a Directed Network
title_full_unstemmed A Novel Method to Identify Important Edges in a Directed Network
title_short A Novel Method to Identify Important Edges in a Directed Network
title_sort novel method to identify important edges in a directed network
topic complex networks
edge importance
directed networks
cooperation
competition
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/14/4/258
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