用深度神经网络同时捕捉节点异质性并筛选关键属性。
NetworkNet: A Deep Neural Network Approach for Random Networks with Sparse Nodal Attributes and Complex Nodal Heterogeneity

- 设计专用神经架构,显式建模属性驱动的节点异质性。
- 能同时估计节点扩张性与流行度,且在高维属性中选出关键特征。
- 适合研究复杂网络中个体差异与影响力演变的学者使用。
具有丰富节点信息的异质网络数据在多学科研究中日益普遍,但准确建模复杂的节点异质性并同时选择关键节点属性仍是开放挑战。该问题在经济学与社会学应用中尤为关键,因为节点异质性和高维个体特征均显著影响网络形成。本文提出一种基于统计原理的统一深度神经网络方法——NetworkNet,用于建模具有高维节点属性的随机网络中的节点异质性。NetworkNet 的核心创新在于其定制化神经架构,可显式参数化属性驱动的异质性,并嵌入可扩展的属性选择机制。该方法能一致估计两类潜在异质性函数:节点扩张性与流行度,同时进行数据驱动的属性选择以提取关键节点特征。通过融合经典统计网络模型与深度学习,NetworkNet 在保持表达力的同时具备方法可解释性、算法可扩展性及统计严谨性,并提供非渐近逼近误差界。实验表明,模拟结果在异质性估计和高维属性选择上表现优异。进一步应用于大规模统计学家引文网络,揭示了研究领域动态演进与学术影响力的深层规律。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Heterogeneous network data with rich nodal information become increasingly prevalent across multidisciplinary research, yet accurately modeling complex nodal heterogeneity and simultaneously selecting influential nodal attributes remains an open challenge. This problem is central to many applications in economics and sociology, when both nodal heterogeneity and high-dimensional individual characteristics highly affect network formation. We propose a statistically grounded, unified deep neural network approach for modeling nodal heterogeneity in random networks with high-dimensional nodal attributes, namely ``NetworkNet''. A key innovation of NetworkNet lies in a tailored neural architecture that explicitly parameterizes attribute-driven heterogeneity, and at the same time, embeds a scalable attribute selection mechanism. NetworkNet consistently estimates two types of latent heterogeneity functions, i.e., nodal expansiveness and popularity, while simultaneously performing data-driven attribute selection to extract influential nodal attributes. By unifying classical statistical network modeling with deep learning, NetworkNet delivers the expressive power of DNNs with methodological interpretability, algorithmic scalability, and statistical rigor with a non-asymptotic approximation error bound. Empirically, simulations demonstrate strong performance in both heterogeneity estimation and high-dimensional attribute selection. We further apply NetworkNet to a large-scale author-citation network among statisticians, revealing new insights into the dynamic evolution of research fields and scholarly impact.
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