computation -
Function: noun
1 a : the act or action of computing : CALCULATION b : the use
or operation of a computer
2 : a system of reckoning
3 : an amount computed
computational - adjective
population -
Etymology: Late Latin population, from Latin
populus
1 a : the whole number of people or inhabitants in a country
or region b : the total of individuals occupying an area or
making up a whole c : the total of particles at a particular
energy level -- used especially of atoms in a laser
3 a : a body of persons or individuals having a quality or
characteristic in common b (1) : the organisms inhabiting a
particular locality (2) : a group of interbreeding organisms
that represents the level of organization at which speciation
begins
4 : a group of individual persons, objects, or items from
which samples are taken for statistical measurement
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Persistent Social Groups
Humans, zebras, geese, ants, bacteria, all form social groups. Taken
as a snapshot any population of social animals will have several
groups in it. However, a snapshot taken at a different time may show
totally different groups. Social associations change from minute to
minute, hour to hour, day to day. Some groups tend to change more,
while others, less. Some just loose or gain a few members at a time
while others break up into many smaller groups and reassemble
again. Other still just reappear every now and then. Which social
groups are important, significant, stable? What does it mean for a
group to persist over time? And over what time? We try to answer these
questions algorithmically, modeling populations as dynamic graphs. We
give a formal general definition of persistence of a social group and
try to analyze what it means in various contexts and what algorithms
are appropriate for various applications. Our main application right
now is the social
structure of zebras at the Mpala
Conservancy in Kenya, Africa, and onagers
in India. This project is a collaboration between Dan
Rubenstein's group from Princeton, Jared Saia from University of
New Mexico, and me.
People:
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