Many empirical networks are intrinsically polyadic, with interactions occurring within groups of agents of arbitrary size. There are, however, few flexible null models that can support statistical inference for such polyadic networks. We define a class of null random hypergraphs that hold constant both the node degree and edge dimension sequences, generalizing the classical dyadic configuration model. We provide a Markov Chain Monte Carlo scheme for sampling from these models, and discuss connections and distinctions between our proposed models and previous approaches. We then illustrate these models through a triplet of applications. We start with two classical network topics -- triadic clustering and degree-assortativity. In each, we emphasize the importance of randomizing over hypergraph space rather than projected graph space, showing that this choice can dramatically alter statistical inference and study findings. We then define and study the edge intersection profile of a hypergraph as a measure of higher-order correlation between edges, and derive asymptotic approximations under the stub-labeled null. Our experiments emphasize the ability of explicit, statistically-grounded polyadic modeling to significantly enhance the toolbox of network data science. We close with suggestions for multiple avenues of future work.
We propose algorithms for construction and random generation of hypergraphs without loops and with prescribed degree and dimension sequences. The objective is to provide a starting point for as well as an alternative to Markov chain Monte Carlo approaches. Our algorithms leverage the transposition of properties and algorithms devised for matrices constituted of zeros and ones with prescribed row- and column-sums to hypergraphs. The construction algorithm extends the applicability of Markov chain Monte Carlo approaches when the initial hypergraph is not provided. The random generation algorithm…
A parametrization of hypergraphs based on the geometry of points in $\mathbf{R}^d$ is developed. Informative prior distributions on hypergraphs are induced through this parametrization by priors on point configurations via spatial processes. This prior specification is used to infer conditional independence models or Markov structure of multivariate distributions. Specifically, we can recover both the junction tree factorization as well as the hyper Markov law. This approach offers greater control on the distribution of graph features than Erdös-Rényi random graphs, supports inference of facto…
A probabilistic model for random hypergraphs is introduced to represent unary, binary and higher order interactions among objects in real-world problems. This model is an extension of the Latent Class Analysis model, which captures clustering structures among objects. An EM (expectation maximization) algorithm with MM (minorization maximization) steps is developed to perform parameter estimation while a cross validated likelihood approach is employed to perform model selection. The developed model is applied to three real-world data sets where interesting results are obtained.
We consider random walk on the structure given by a random hypergraph in the regime where there is a unique giant component. We give the asymptotics for hitting times, cover times, and commute times and show that the results obtained for random walk on random graphs are universal.
We prove the convergence in probability of free energy for matchings on random regular, uniform hypergraphs and explicitly compute the limit. We also obtain a region on parameters where replica symmetry holds.
In this paper, we study the spectra of regular hypergraphs following the definitions from Feng and Li (1996). Our main result is an analog of Alon's conjecture for the spectral gap of the random regular hypergraphs. We then relate the second eigenvalues to both its expansion property and the mixing rate of the non-backtracking random walk on regular hypergraphs. We also prove the spectral gap for the non-backtracking operator of a random regular hypergraph introduced in Angelini et al. (2015). Finally, we obtain the convergence of the empirical spectral distribution (ESD) for random regular hy…
For a $k$-uniform hypergraph $\mathcal{H}$ on vertex set $\{1, ..., n\}$ we associate a particular signed incidence matrix $M(\mathcal{H})$ over the integers. For $\mathcal{H} \sim \mathcal{H}_k(n, p)$ an Erdős--Rényi random $k$-uniform hypergraph, $\text{coker}(M(\mathcal{H}))$ is then a model for random abelian groups. Motivated by conjectures from the study of random simplicial complexes we show that for $p = ω(1/n^{k - 1})$, $\text{coker}(M(\mathcal{H}))$ is torsion-free.
We determine the probability thresholds for the existence of monotone paths, of finite and infinite length, in random oriented graphs with vertex set $\mathbb N^{[k]}$, the set of all increasing $k$-tuples in $\mathbb N$. These graphs appear as line graph of uniform hypergraphs with vertex set $\mathbb N$.
In this work limit probabilities of first-order properties of the random $s$-uniform hypergraph in the binomial model $G^{s}(n,p)$ are studied. We give a complete discription of all positive $α$ such that $G^{s}(n,n^{-α})$ obeys Zero-One Law. Moreover, for any rational $ρ\geq 1/(s-1)$ we prove the existence of a strictly balanced $s$-uniform hypergraph with the density $ρ$.
We establish that in the large degree limit, the value of certain optimization problems on sparse random hypergraphs is determined by an appropriate Gaussian optimization problem. This approach was initiated in Dembo et. al.(2016) for extremal cuts of graphs. The usefulness of this technique is further illustrated by deriving the optimal value for Max $q$-cut on Erdős-Rényi and random regular graphs, Max XORSAT on Erdős-Rényi hypergraphs, and the min-bisection for the Stochastic Block Model.
We determine the limiting distribution of the logarithm of the number of satisfying assignments in the random $k$-uniform hypergraph 2-colouring problem in a certain density regime for all $k\ge 3$ . As a direct consequence we obtain that in this regime the random colouring model is contiguous wrt. the planted model, a result that helps simplifying the transfer of statements between these two models.
We prove a moderate deviations principles for the size of the largest connected component in a random $d$-uniform hypergraph. The key tool is a version of the exploration process, that is also used to investigate the giant component of an Erdös-Rényi graph, a moderate deviations principle for the martingale associated with this exploration process, and exponential estimates.
University of Washington（华盛顿大学）；University of California, San Diego（加州大学圣地亚哥分校）
We consider the community detection problem in sparse random hypergraphs. Angelini et al. (2015) conjectured the existence of a sharp threshold on model parameters for community detection in sparse hypergraphs generated by a hypergraph stochastic block model. We solve the positive part of the conjecture for the case of two blocks: above the threshold, there is a spectral algorithm which asymptotically almost surely constructs a partition of the hypergraph correlated with the true partition. Our method is a generalization to random hypergraphs of the method developed by Massoulié (2014) for spa…
Recently, we adapted random walk arguments based on work of Nachmias and Peres, Martin-Löf, Karp and Aldous to give a simple proof of the asymptotic normality of the size of the giant component in the random graph $G(n,p)$ above the phase transition. Here we show that the same method applies to the analogous model of random $k$-uniform hypergraphs, establishing asymptotic normality throughout the (sparse) supercritical regime. Previously, asymptotic normality was known only towards the two ends of this regime.
The jigsaw percolation process on graphs was introduced by Brummitt, Chatterjee, Dey, and Sivakoff as a model of collaborative solutions of puzzles in social networks. Percolation in this process may be viewed as the joint connectedness of two graphs on a common vertex set. Our aim is to extend a result of Bollobás, Riordan, Slivken, and Smith concerning this process to hypergraphs for a variety of possible definitions of connectedness. In particular, we determine the asymptotic order of the critical threshold probability for percolation when both hypergraphs are chosen binomially at random.
In this paper, we study Maker-Breaker games on the random hypergraph $H_{n,s,p}$, obtained from the complete $s$-graph by keeping every edge independently with probability $p$. We determine the threshold probability for the property of Maker winning the game as a function of $s$, the uniformity of the underlying hypergraph, as well as $m$, $b$, the number of vertices that Maker and Breaker are respectively allowed to pick each turn. In addition, we show that depending on those $m,b,s$, there are two types of thresholds: either being Maker-win is a local property and the threshold is weak, or i…
We establish central and local limit theorems for the number of vertices in the largest component of a random $d$-uniform hypergraph $\hnp$ with edge probability $p=c/\binnd$, where $(d-1)^{-1}+\eps<c<\infty$. The proof relies on a new, purely probabilistic approach, and is based on Stein's method as well as exposing the edges of $H_d(n,p)$ in several rounds.
The upper tail problem in a random graph asks to estimate the probability that the number of copies of some fixed subgraph in an Erdős--Rényi random graph exceeds its expectation by some constant factor. There has been much exciting recent progress on this problem. We study the corresponding problem for hypergraphs, for which less is known about the large deviation rate. We present new phenomena in upper tail large deviations for sparse random hypergraphs that are not seen in random graphs. We conjecture a formula for the large deviation rate, i.e., the first order asymptotics of the log-proba…
We consider high-order connectivity in $k$-uniform hypergraphs defined as follows: Two $j$-sets are $j$-connected if there is a walk of edges between them such that two consecutive edges intersect in at least $j$ vertices. We describe the evolution of $j$-connected components in the $k$-uniform binomial random hypergraph $\mathcal{H}^k(n,p)$. In particular, we determine the asymptotic size of the giant component shortly after its emergence and establish the threshold at which the $\mathcal{H}^k(n,p)$ becomes $j$-connected with high probability. We also obtain a hitting time result for the rela…
Bollobás and Thomason (1985) proved that for each $k=k(n) \in [1, n-1]$, with high probability, the random graph process, where edges are added to vertex set $V=[n]$ uniformly at random one after another, is such that the stopping time of having minimal degree $k$ is equal to the stopping time of becoming $k$-(vertex-)connected. We extend this result to the $d$-uniform random hypergraph process, where $k$ and $d$ are fixed. Consequently, for $m=\frac{n}{d}(\ln n +(k-1)\ln \ln n +c)$ and $p=(d-1)! \frac{\ln n + (k-1) \ln \ln n +c}{n^{d-1}}$, the probability that the random hypergraph models $H_…
The degree of a vertex in a hypergraph is defined as the number of edges incident to it. In this paper we study the $k$-core, defined as the maximal induced subhypergraph of minimum degree $k$, of the random $r$-uniform hypergraph $H_r(n,p)$ for $r\geq 3$. We consider the case $k\geq 2$ and $p=d/n^{r-1}$ for which every vertex has fixed average degree $d>0$. We derive a multi-type branching process that describes the local structure of the $k$-core together with the mantle, i.e. the vertices outside the core.
A h-uniform hypergraph H=(V,E) is called (l,k)-orientable if there exists an assignment of each hyperedge e to exactly l of its vertices such that no vertex is assigned more than k hyperedges. Let H_{n,m,h} be a hypergraph, drawn uniformly at random from the set of all h-uniform hypergraphs with n vertices and m edges. In this paper, we determine the threshold of the existence of a (l,k)-orientation of H_{n,m,h} for k>=1 and h>l>=1, extending recent results motivated by applications such as cuckoo hashing or load balancing with guaranteed maximum load. Our proof combines the local weak converg…
Let $Ω_q=Ω_q(H)$ denote the set of proper $[q]$-colorings of the hypergraph $H$. Let $Γ_q$ be the graph with vertex set $Ω_q$ and an edge ${σ,τ\}$ where $σ,τ$ are colorings iff $h(σ,τ)=1$. Here $h(σ,τ)$ is the Hamming distance $|\{v\in V(H):σ(v)\neqτ(v)\}|$. We show that if $H=H_{n,m;k},\,k\geq 2$, the random $k$-uniform hypergraph with $V=[n]$ and $m=dn/k$ then w.h.p. $Γ_q$ is connected if $d$ is sufficiently large and $q\gtrsim (d/\log d)^{1/(k-1)}$.
We consider connected components in $k$-uniform hypergraphs for the following notion of connectedness: given integers $k\ge 2$ and $1\le j \le k-1$, two $j$-sets (of vertices) lie in the same $j$-component if there is a sequence of edges from one to the other such that consecutive edges intersect in at least $j$ vertices. We prove that certain collections of $j$-sets constructed during a breadth-first search process on $j$-components in a random $k$-uniform hypergraph are reasonably regularly distributed with high probability. We use this property to provide a short proof of the asymptotic siz…
Given a hypergraph $\mathcal{H}$, the $\mathcal{H}$-bootstrap process starts with an initial set of infected vertices of $\mathcal{H}$ and, at each step, a healthy vertex $v$ becomes infected if there exists a hyperedge of $\mathcal{H}$ in which $v$ is the unique healthy vertex. We say that the set of initially infected vertices percolates if every vertex of $\mathcal{H}$ is eventually infected. We show that this process exhibits a sharp threshold when $\mathcal{H}$ is a hypergraph obtained by randomly sampling hyperedges from an approximately $d$-regular $r$-uniform hypergraph satisfying some…
Diluted mean-field models are graphical models in which the geometry of interactions is determined by a sparse random graph or hypergraph. Based on a nonrigorous but analytic approach called the "cavity method", physicists have predicted that in many diluted mean-field models a phase transition occurs as the inverse temperature grows from $0$ to $\infty$ [Proc. National Academy of Sciences 104 (2007) 10318-10323]. In this paper, we establish the existence and asymptotic location of this so-called condensation phase transition in the random hypergraph $2$-coloring problem.
Denote by an $\ell$-component a connected $b$-uniform hypergraph with $k$ edges and $k(b-1) - \ell$ vertices. We prove that the expected number of creations of $\ell$-component during a random hypergraph process tends to 1 as $\ell$ and $b$ tend to $\infty$ with the total number of vertices $n$ such that $\ell = o(\sqrt[3]{\frac{n}{b}})$. Under the same conditions, we also show that the expected number of vertices that ever belong to an $\ell$-component is approximately $12^{1/3} (b-1)^{1/3} \ell^{1/3} n^{2/3}$. As an immediate consequence, it follows that with high probability the largest $\e…
We study in this paper the structure of solutions in the random hypergraph coloring problem and the phase transitions they undergo when the density of constraints is varied. Hypergraph coloring is a constraint satisfaction problem where each constraint includes $K$ variables that must be assigned one out of $q$ colors in such a way that there are no monochromatic constraints, i.e. there are at least two distinct colors in the set of variables belonging to every constraint. This problem generalizes naturally coloring of random graphs ($K=2$) and bicoloring of random hypergraphs ($q=2$), both of…
The theme of this paper is the derivation of analytic formulae for certain large combinatorial structures. The formulae are obtained via fluid limits of pure jump type Markov processes, established under simple conditions on the Laplace transforms of their Levy kernels. Furthermore, a related Gaussian approximation allows us to describe the randomness which may persist in the limit when certain parameters take critical values. Our method is quite general, but is applied here to vertex identifiability in random hypergraphs. A vertex v is identifiable in n steps if there is a hyperedge containin…
We investigate bootstrap percolation with infection threshold $r> 1$ on the binomial $k$-uniform random hypergraph $H_k(n,p)$ in the regime $n^{-1}\ll n^{k-2}p \ll n^{-1/r}$, when the initial set of infected vertices is chosen uniformly at random from all sets of given size. We establish a threshold such that if there are less vertices in the initial set of infected vertices, then whp only a few additional vertices become infected, while if the initial set of infected vertices exceeds the threshold then whp almost every vertex becomes infected. In addition, for $k=2$, we show that the probabil…
We study a dynamical system motivated by our earlier work on the statistical physics of social balance on graphs that can be viewed as a generalization of annihilating walks along two directions: first, the interaction topology is a hypergraph; second, the ``number of particles`` at a vertex of the hypergraph is an element of a finite field ${\bf Z}_{p}$ of integers modulo $p$, $p\geq 3$. Equivalently, particles move on a hypergraph, with a moving particle at a vertex being replaced by one indistinguishable copy at each neighbor in a given hyperedge; particles at a vertex collectively annihila…
Consider a random hypergraph on a set of N vertices in which, for k between 1 and N, a Poisson(N beta_k) number of hyperedges is scattered randomly over all subsets of size k. We collapse the hypergraph by running the following algorithm to exhaustion: pick a vertex having a 1-edge and remove it; collapse the hyperedges over that vertex onto their remaining vertices; repeat until there are no 1-edges left. We call the vertices removed in this process "identifiable". Also any hyperedge all of whose vertices are removed is called "identifiable". We say that a hyperedge is "essential" if its remo…
A {\it weak (Berge) cycle} is an alternating sequence of vertices and (hyper)edges $C=(v_0, e_1, v_1, ..., v_{\ell-1}, e_\ell, v_{\ell}=v_0)$ such that the vertices $v_0, ..., v_{\ell-1}$ are distinct with $v_k, v_{k+1} \in e_{k}$ for each $k$, but the edges $e_1, ..., e_\ell$ are not necessarily distinct. We prove that the main barrier to the random $d$-uniform hypergraph $H_d(n,p),$ where each of the potential edges of cardinality $d$ is present with probability $p$, developing a weak Hamilton cycle is the presence of isolated vertices. In particular, for $d \geq 3$ fixed and $p=(d-1)! \frac…
