Community Structures Are Definable in Networks: A Structural Theory of Networks

Abstract: We found that neither randomness in the ER model nor the preferential attachment in the PA model is the mechanism of community structures of networks, that community structures are universal in real networks, that community structures are definable in networks, that communities are interpretable in networks, and that homophyly is the mechanism of community structures and a structural theory of networks. We proposed the notions of entropy- and conductance-community structures. It was shown that the two definitions of the entropy- and conductance-community structures and the notion of modularity proposed by physicists are all equivalent in defining community structures of networks, that neither randomness in the ER model nor preferential attachment in the PA model is the mechanism of community structures of networks, and that the existence of community structures is a universal phenomenon in real networks. This poses a fundamental question: What are the mechanisms of community structures of real networks? To answer this question, we proposed a homophyly model of networks. It was shown that networks of our model satisfy a series of new topological, probabilistic and combinatorial principles, including a fundamental principle, a community structure principle, a degree priority principle, a widths principle, an inclusion and infection principle, a king node principle and a predicting principle etc. The new principles provide a firm foundation for a structural theory of networks. Our homophyly model demonstrates that homophyly is the underlying mechanism of community structures of networks, that nodes of the same community share common features, that power law and small world property are never obstacles of the existence of community structures in networks, that community structures are {\it definable} in networks, and that (natural) communities are {\it interpretable}.