Statistical network isomorphism

Abstract: Graph isomorphism is a problem for which there is no known polynomial-time solution. Nevertheless, assessing (dis)similarity between two or more networks is a key task in many areas, such as image recognition, biology, chemistry, computer and social networks. Moreover, questions of similarity are typically more general and their answers more widely applicable than the more restrictive isomorphism question. In this article, we offer a statistical answer to the following questions: a) {\it Are networks $G_1$ and $G_2$ similar?''}, b) {\itHow different are the networks $G_1$ and $G_2$?''} and c) {\it ``Is $G_3$ more similar to $G_1$ or $G_2$?''}. Our comparisons begin with the transformation of each graph into an all-pairs distance matrix. Our node-node distance, Jaccard distance, has been shown to offer a good reflection of the graph's connectivity structure. We then model these distances as probability distributions. Finally, we use well-established statistical tools to gauge the (dis)similarities in terms of probability distribution (dis)similarity. This comparison procedure aims to detect (dis)similarities in connectivity structure, not in easily observable graph characteristics, such as degrees, edge counts or density. We validate our hypothesis that graphs can be meaningfully summarized and compared via their node-node distance distributions, using several synthetic and real-world graphs. Empirical results demonstrate its validity and the accuracy of our comparison technique.