Graphs as Matrices - part 2

As we saw in the last post, treating graphs as matrices gives us a lot of tools to analyse them without traversing them.

One handy tool is being able to detect cycles. If we take the adjacency matrix in the last post, we can calculate the number of paths from i to j and back to i by taking all the outgoing connections from i then AND them with all the incoming connection to i. Since an element in the adjacency matrix is 0 if and only if there is no connection, then multiplication acts like an AND operator.

All the outgoing connections for node i are represented by the i-th row of matrix A (that is A_i,j) and all the incoming connections to node i are represented by the i-th column (that is A_j,i). Multiplying each outgoing value with the corresponding incoming and adding them all up (to give us the total number of paths) is:

	n
number of cycles between i and j =	Σ	ai,j aj,i
	j = 1

which if you look at the Wikipedia page for matrix multiplication, is just the i-th diagonal of the matrix A multiplied by itself.

If we wanted to find the number of cycles if we took 3 steps not 2, then the equation becomes:

	n	n
number of cycles between i and j via k =	Σ	Σ	ai,j aj,k ak,i
	j = 1	k = 1

which is just the i-th diagonal of A³.

More generally, the non-diagonal values (A^x_i,j where i ≠ j) are also of interest. They show the number of paths from i to j after x steps.

Now, taking our matrix representing an acyclic matrix, let's keep multiply it by itself (in Python):

>>> B = re_arranged_rows_and_cols
>>> np.dot(B, B)
matrix([[0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])
>>> np.dot(B, np.dot(B, B))
matrix([[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])
>>> np.dot(B, np.dot(B, np.dot(B, B)))
matrix([[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])
>>> np.dot(B, np.dot(B, np.dot(B, np.dot(B, B))))
matrix([[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])
>>> np.dot(B, np.dot(B, np.dot(B, np.dot(B, np.dot(B, B)))))
matrix([[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])
>>> 

Ah. Because it's acyclic, there is a limit to how many steps we can take (4, apparently). It's not too surprising if you look at the graph and try to find the longest path possible by eye:

G = nx.from_numpy_matrix(A, create_using=nx.MultiDiGraph())
nx.draw(G, with_labels=True)
plt.show()

(The thick end of the connection indicates its direction like an arrow).

Now, let's introduce a loop from 2 to 0:

>>> B[2,0] = 1
>>> B
matrix([[0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])

so the graph now looks like:

We also note that the eigenvalues are no longer all 0 (as predicted by my previous post).

>>> eig(B)[0]
array([-0.5+0.8660254j, -0.5-0.8660254j,  1.0+0.j       ,  0.0+0.j       ,
        0.0+0.j       ,  0.0+0.j       ,  0.0+0.j       ,  0.0+0.j       ,
        0.0+0.j       ,  0.0+0.j       ,  0.0+0.j       ,  0.0+0.j       ,
        0.0+0.j       ])

The total number of cycles can be calculated by the trace of the matrix resulting from repeated multiplication:

>>> B.trace()
matrix([[0]])
>>> np.dot(B, B).trace()
matrix([[0]])
>>> np.dot(B, np.dot(B, B)).trace()
matrix([[3]])

There is one caveat. "Note that this expression counts separately loops consisting of the same vertices in the same order but with different starting points. Thus the loop 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 1 is considered different from the loop 2 -> 3 -> 1 -> 2." (Networks - An Introduction, Newman).

Looking at the matrix tells you who is in a cycle (see the diagonals). For instance, this is the matrix after 3 hops looks like this:

>>> np.dot(B, np.dot(B, B))
matrix([[1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
        [0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
        [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]])

Note the value of A_0,8 has the value of 3 and if you look at the picture above, you can see that there are indeed 3 different ways to get from 0 to 8 given 3 hops.