Enhancing multiplex global efficiency

Modeling complex systems that consist of different types of objects leads to multilayer networks, in which vertices are connected by both inter-layer and intra-layer edges. In this paper, we investigate multiplex networks, in which vertices in different layers are identified with each other, and the only inter-layer edges are those that connect a vertex with its copy in other layers. Let the third-order adjacency tensor $\mathcal{A}\in\R^{N\times N\times L}$ and the parameter $\gamma\geq 0$, which is associated with the ease of communication between layers, represent a multiplex network with $N$ vertices and $L$ layers. To measure the ease of communication in a multiplex network, we focus on the average inverse geodesic length, which we refer to as the multiplex global efficiency $e_\mathcal{A}(\gamma)$ by means of the multiplex path length matrix $P\in\R^{N\times N}$. This paper generalizes the approach proposed in \cite{NR23} for single-layer networks. We describe an algorithm based on min-plus matrix multiplication to construct $P$, as well as variants $P^K$ that only take into account multiplex paths made up of at most $K$ intra-layer edges. These matrices are applied to detect redundant edges and to determine non-decreasing lower bounds $e_\mathcal{A}^K(\gamma)$ for $e_\mathcal{A}(\gamma)$, for $K=1,2,\dots,N-2$. Finally, the sensitivity of $e_\mathcal{A}^K(\gamma)$ to changes of the entries of the adjacency tensor $\mathcal{A}$ is investigated to determine edges that should be strengthened to enhance the multiplex global efficiency the most.