The present invention relates generally to graph theory, and more specifically, to simplifying large and complex networks and graphs using global connectivity information based on calculated node centralities.
Graph theory is the study of graphs, which are mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects. A graph in this context is made up of vertices or nodes and lines called edges that connect them. Graphs are widely used in applications to model many types of relations and process dynamics in physical, biological, social and information systems. Accordingly, many practical problems in modern technological, scientific and business applications are typically represented by graphs.
The centrality of a node is a widely used measure to determine the relative importance a node within a full network or graph. Node centralities may be used to determine which nodes are important in a complex network, to understand influencers, or to find hot spot links. For example, node centralities are typically used to determine how influential a person is within a social network, or, in the theory of space syntax, how important a room is within a building or how well-used a road is within an urban network.