The flux measure of influence in engineering networks

The objective of this project is to characterize the influence of individual nodes in complex networks. The flux metric developed here achieves this goal by considering the difference between the weighted outdegree and indegree of a node. This technique differentiates among nodes that traditional centrality measures treat as identical units. The behavior and proper interpretation of the flux metric are demonstrated on a variety of weighted and directed networks. Simulations of fluid flow, opinion sharing, epidemic dynamics, and resource allocation reveal the practical capabilities of the flux metric. An engineering design challenge may also be framed as a network analysis problem so that the the flux metric contributes to understanding the relationships among the system's subcomponents and objectives. A case study that investigates the design of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for use in the offshore oil and gas industry demonstrates these insights. In all of the applications explored here, the flux metric consistently emerges as a reliable indicator of the influence of a node.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Schwing, Kyle Michael

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Franz S. Hover.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/55280

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/55280