Modelling time evolving interactions in networks through a non stationary extension of stochastic block models

The stochastic block model (SBM) [1] describes interactions between nodes of a network following a probabilistic approach. Nodes belong to hidden clusters and the probabilities of interactions only depend on these clusters. Interactions of time varying intensity are not taken into account. By partitioning the whole time horizon, in which interactions are observed, we develop a non stationary extension of the SBM, allowing us to simultaneously cluster the nodes of a network and the fixed time intervals in which interactions take place. The number of clusters as well as memberships to clusters are finally obtained through the maximization of the complete-data integrated likelihood relying on a greedy search approach. Experiments are carried out in order to assess the proposed methodology.