Eidi, Marzieh and Jurgen Jost
Many empirical networks incorporate higher order relations between elements and therefore are naturally modelled as, possibly directed and/or weighted, hypergraphs, rather than merely as graphs. In order to develop a systematic tool for the statistical analysis of such hypergraph, we propose a general definition of Ricci curvature on directed hypergraphs and explore the consequences of that definition. The definition generalizes Ollivier’s definition for graphs. It involves a carefully designed optimal transport problem between sets of vertices. While the definition looks somewhat complex, in the end we shall be able to express our curvature in a very simple formula, κ = μ0 − μ2 − 2μ3. This formula simply counts the fraction of vertices that have to be moved by distances 0, 2 or 3 in an optimal transport plan. We can then characterize various classes of hypergraphs by their curvature.