Speaker: 孙萍讲师，青岛大学

Inviter: 穆义芬副研究员

Title: Dynamically stable partitions in networks with the costs dependent on neighborhood

Language: Chinese

Time & Venue: 2025.01.03 19:30-21:00 腾讯会议：670-149-416

Abstract: We define a process of partition formation for a discrete time and infinite horizon. Two cost functions for maintaining connections within a network are proposed, and the cost for a link connecting players in various groups is affected by the composition of a player’s neighborhood. In addition, the costs two players pay for the link connecting them are symmetric with one cost function, but not necessarily symmetric with the other one. Given an initial partition and a fixed network structure, at each stage a player is randomly selected to decide whether or not to deviate from the current group to another in order to increase her utility. We determine dynamically stable partitions when each player behaves myopically and chooses the best response strategy at the current stage. We examine cases when players are engaged in a star network, a complete network, as well as a balanced and complete bipartite network. Special emphasis is given to identifying the significant difference between the stable partitions obtained for these two forms of cost functions. Finally, we highlight a significant impact of initial partition structure and the order of players chosen to make decisions on the resulting stable partitions by comparing dynamic setting with the static one and analyzing Zachary’s karate club network to explain why two particular players can be considered as group leaders.