k-Core based Multi-level Graph Visualization for Scale-free Networks

We present a new multi-level graph drawing algorithm based on the k-core coarsening, a well-known cohesive subgroup analysis method in social network analysis. The k-core of a graph is also known as the degeneracy in graph theory, and can be computed in linear time. Our k-core based multi-level algorithm also includes a new concentric circle placement and a variation of force-directed layout to display the structure of graphs effectively. Experiments with real-world networks suggest that our algorithm performs well for visualization of large and complex scale-free networks, with a power-law degree distribution, a short diameter and a high clustering coefficient. Comparison with other multi-level algorithms shows that our method is fast and effective, in particular performs better than Walshaw [26] and FM3 [15].