Subgraph detection using graph signals

Abstract

In this paper we develop statistical detection theory for graph signals. In particular, given two graphs, namely, a background graph that represents an usual activity and an alternative graph that represents some unusual activity, we are interested in answering the following question: To which of the two graphs does the observed graph signal fit the best? To begin with, we assume both the graphs are known, and derive an optimal Neyman-Pearson detector. Next, we derive a suboptimal detector for the case when the alternative graph is not known. The developed theory is illustrated with numerical experiments.