<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Dear all,<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">We remind you <b>today</b>'s<b> </b>appointment of the series of seminars "Insalate di Matematica".</div><div dir="auto">Here are the details:</div><div dir="auto"><br><div dir="auto"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><u>Date and time</u>: <b>29th of November 2023, 3:30 pm (CET)</b></span></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><font color="#000000"><u>Title</u>: <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)">"</span></font><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)">Strong, weak or no balance? Testing structural hypotheses in real heterogeneous networks</span><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)">"</span></font></div><br></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><font color="#000000"><u>Abstract</u>:</font> The
abundance of data about social, economic and political relationships
allows social theories to be tested against empirical evidence and human
behaviour to be analyzed just as any other natural phenomenon. Here we
focus on balance theory, stating that actors in signed, social networks
tend to avoid the formation of cycles with an odd number of negative
links. This statement, however, can be supported statistically only
after a comparison with a null model. Since the existing benchmarks do
not account for actors’ heterogeneity, here we extend the Exponential
Random Graphs framework to signed networks with both global
(homogeneous) and local (heterogeneous) constraints and employ them to
assess the significance of unbalanced patterns in several real-world
networks. We find that the nature and level of balance in social
networks crucially depends on the null model employed: while homogeneous
benchmarks favour the weak balance theory, according to which only
triangles with one negative link should be under-represented,
heterogeneous benchmarks favour the strong balance theory, according to
which also triangles with all negative links should be
under-represented. Biological networks, instead, display almost inverted
patterns and strong frustration under any benchmark, confirming that
structural bal- ance inherently distinguishes social networks from other
signed networks.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div><u>Keywords:</u> Probability theory, Graph theory, Null models, Statistical mechanics, Entropy, Balance theory.</div><div><br></div><div><div id="m_-8599101177850913752m_7269923221195634491m_-5411829806841061073gmail-:1l1" style="direction:ltr;margin:8px 0px 0px;padding:0px;font-size:0.875rem"><div id="m_-8599101177850913752m_7269923221195634491m_-5411829806841061073gmail-:15w" style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:small;line-height:1.5;overflow:hidden"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><u><b>Information to attend in room 3014</b></u></div><div dir="auto">The seminar will take place in room 3014, at the building U5-Ratio, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"></div><div dir="auto"><u><b>Information to attend online<br></b></u></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://unimib.webex.com/unimib/j.php?MTID=m3c536ba5a33f71bb9d6a3bc9b00992ad" target="_blank">https://unimib.webex.com/unimib/j.php?MTID=m3c536ba5a33f71bb9d6a3bc9b00992ad</a> (password: Insalate, 46725283 from phones)</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">You can find the poster of the event in the attachment. </div><div dir="auto">We are looking forward to seeing you! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"></div><div dir="auto">For further information, please visit our website: <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/insalate-di-matematica" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://sites.google.com/view/insalate-di-matematica</a> or contact us at <a href="mailto:insalate.matematica@unimib.it" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">insalate.matematica@unimib.it</a>. Find us also on our Instagram page: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/insalate_di_matematica22/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/insalate_di_matematica23/</a></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><font color="#000000">The organizers: Ettore Marmo, Simone Gallivanone, Fabio Mastrogiacomo, Marco Fusari, Tommaso Toti and Matteo Tarocchi.</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>