The critical node detection problem in hypergraphs using weighted node degree centrality

Abstract

Network analysis is an indispensable part of today’s academic field. Among the different types of networks, the more complex hypergraphs can provide an excellent challenge and new angles for analysis. This study proposes a variant of the critical node detection problem for hypergraphs using weighted node degree centrality as a form of importance metric. An analysis is done on both generated synthetic networks and real-world derived data on the topic of United States House and Senate committees, using a newly designed algorithm. The numerical results show that the combination of the critical node detection on hypergraphs with the weighted node degree centrality provides promising results and the topic is worth exploring further.

Keywords

• Node detection
• Hypergraphs
• Centrality measures
• Genetic algorithm
• Critical nodes
• Graph theory