Taxonomy of Community Models and Applications in Complex Networks

Abstract

The analysis of complex networks is an interdisci- plinary area that combines many fields such as data analysis, graph theory, computer science, etc. It gives an accurate de- scription of many phenomena that imply interactions between different components of complex systems. One of the most important issues in studying such networks is probing community structures. It consists of dividing the network into modules with dense intra-connections, and sparse interconnections. The nodes within such communities share common features and collaborate to execute same task in the network. This paper aims to survey models of underlying communities in complex networks that have been studied by researchers. In addition to that, it gives an insight to the challenging issue of interpretation of underlying communities, according to the fields of their applications and network structures.