Workshop on Topology: Identifying Order in Complex Systems

Networks arise pervasively in biology, physics, technology, social science, and myriad other areas. They consist of a collection of entities (called nodes) connected via ties, and they typically exhibit a complicated mixture of random and structured features. One of the most important areas of network science is the study of cohesive groups of nodes called "communities," which consist of groups of nodes that are tightly connected to each other in some fashion. In this talk, I will give an introduction to community structure, and I will present several applications of it from subjects such as international relations, neuroscience, and granular materials.