Network embedding: Taxonomies, frameworks and applications

Abstract

Networks are a general language for describing complex systems of interacting entities. In the real world, a network always contains massive nodes, edges and additional complex information which leads to high complexity in computing and analyzing tasks. Network embedding aims at transforming one network into a low dimensional vector space which benefits the downstream network analysis tasks. In this survey, we provide a systematic overview of network embedding techniques in addressing challenges appearing in networks. We first introduce concepts and challenges in network embedding. Afterwards, we categorize network embedding methods using three categories, including static homogeneous network embedding methods, static heterogeneous network embedding methods and dynamic network embedding methods. Next, we summarize the datasets and evaluation tasks commonly used in network embedding. Finally, we discuss several future directions in this field.