Event
Advanced Networks Colloquium: Osman Yagan, "Analysis of Contagions in Networks"
Friday, March 31, 2017
11:00 a.m.
1146 AV Williams Building
Kimberly Edwards
kedwards@umd.edu
Analysis of Contagions in Multi-Layer and Multiplex Networks
Osman Yagan
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Abstract
The emergence of online social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) has posed new research challenges regarding the diffusion of information in large networks. In particular, due to the existence of multiple online social networks, information is now likely to spread among the population at an unprecedented speed and scale. The first part of the talk will cover several recent results that quantify this phenomenon. In particular, we analyze the propagation of information over multi-layer networks and reveal intricate relations between network parameters (e.g., degree distributions, size, clustering, degree correlations, and the coupling strength among participating networks) and the threshold, probability, and size of information cascades.
A related problem of interest is the diffusion of influence in social networks. This time, we are interested in modeling the network as a multiplex one; i.e., one where links are categorized according to the nature of the relationship they represent (e.g., friends, family, office-mates) as well as according to the social network to which they belong (e.g., Google+ vs. Facebook links). This will enable us to capture the different impact that each link type might have on the diffusion of influence in a given context. In the second part of the talk, we will present several results on influence propagation in multiplex networks, under a context-dependent linear threshold model. In particular, we focus on how clustering, degree distributions, and the context-dependent weights affect the threshold, probability, and expected size of influence cascades
Biography
Osman Yağan is an Assistant Research Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He received his Ph.D. in ECE from the University of Maryland at College Park, MD in 2011, and his B.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara (Turkey) in 2007. His research interests are in modeling, analysis, design, and performance optimization of networks. Specific research topics include dynamical processes in social and information networks, robustness of cyber-physical systems, random graphs, wireless communication theory, and security.
