Bursty Time Series Analysis for Temporal Networks

Abstract

Characterizing bursty temporal interaction patterns of temporal networks is crucial to investigate the evolution of temporal networks as well as various collective dynamics taking place in them. The temporal interaction patterns have been described by a series of interaction events or event sequences, often showing non-Poissonian or bursty nature. Such bursty event sequences can be understood not only by heterogeneous interevent times (IETs) but also by correlations between IETs. The heterogeneities of IETs have been extensively studied in recent years, while the correlations between IETs are far from being fully explored. In this Chapter, we introduce various measures for bursty time series analysis, such as the IET distribution, the burstiness parameter, the memory coefficient, the bursty train sizes, and the autocorrelation function, to discuss the relation between those measures. Then we show that the correlations between IETs can affect the speed of spreading taking place in temporal networks. Finally, we discuss possible research topics regarding bursty time series analysis for temporal networks.