A Novel Community Detection Algorithm Based on Node Propagation and Attraction

High-quality community detection in complex networks typically relies on the similarity between nodes to select communities. However, when a node exhibits the same similarity with different communities, it becomes ambiguous to determining the optimal community assignment for that node, potentially leading to incorrect predictions and affecting the accuracy of community assignments for other nodes. To address this problem, this paper proposes a novel community detection algorithm based on node propagation and attraction. The algorithm first introduces a node propagation strategy, which identifies high-propagation nodes based on their connectivity and core attributes. These high-propagation nodes form the initial backbone and framework of communities, minimizing the interference of low-propagation nodes on community structure. Subsequently, an attraction definition is introduced, which starts from high-propagation nodes to select partitioning methods based on their relationships with neighboring nodes, using the attraction among these nodes facilitate community organization and propagation, aiming to enhance community quality. Finally, in the community optimization phase, the algorithm effectively improves the accuracy of partitions that result from similar attractions by considering the association degree between nodes and communities. Experimental results demonstrate that, on both synthetic and real networks, the proposed algorithm outperforms various existing community detection algorithms.