Contextual analysis framework for bursty dynamics

Abstract

To understand the origin of bursty dynamics in natural and social processes we provide a general analysis framework, in which the temporal process is decomposed into sub-processes and then the bursts in sub-processes, called contextual bursts, are combined to collective bursts in the original process. For the combination of sub-processes, it is required to consider the distribution of different contexts over the original process. Based on minimal assumptions for inter-event time statistics, we present a theoretical analysis for the relationship between contextual and collective inter-event time distributions. Our analysis framework helps to exploit contextual information available in decomposable bursty dynamics.