Sparse partitions

A collection of clustering and decomposition techniques that make possible the construction of sparse and locality-preserving representations for arbitrary networks is presented. The representation method considered is based on breaking the network G(V,E) into connected regions, or clusters, thus obtaining a cover for the network, i.e. a collection of clusters that covers the entire set of vertices V. Several other graph-theoretic structures that are strongly related to covers are discussed. These include sparse spanners, tree covers of graphs and the concepts of regional matchings and diameter-based separators. All of these structures can be constructed by means of one of the clustering algorithms given, and each has proved a convenient representation for handling certain network applications.<>