Paths and flows for centrality measures in networks

Abstract

We consider the number of paths that must pass through a subset $X$ of vertices of a network $N$ in a maximum sequence of arc-disjoint paths connecting two vertices $y$ and $z$. We show that when $X$ is a singleton, that number equals the difference between the maximum flow value from $y$ to $z$ in $N$ and the maximum flow value from $y$ to $z$ in the network obtained by $N$ setting to zero the capacities of arcs incident to $X$. That fact theoretically justifies the common identification of those two concepts in network literature. We also show that the same equality does not hold when $|X|\geq 2.$ Consequently, two conceptually different group centrality measures involving paths and flows can naturally be defined, both extending the classic flow betweenness centrality.