A Graph Attention Network-Based Link Prediction Method Using Link Value Estimation

Link prediction in complex networks is a critical process aimed at uncovering hidden or potential connections among nodes. This technique is widely utilized in areas such as knowledge graphs. Current Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) often focus exclusively on determining whether nodes are connected or assessing the strength of these links by leveraging node attributes. They typically use network structure and attributes to develop node representations through neighborhood aggregation. However, these methods often overlook the intrinsic importance of the links themselves. This paper thoroughly examines the significance of link value based on network structure and introduces an innovative approach for estimating this value, and proposes a method that incorporates link value into both the formulation and training of a link prediction graph attention network. This integration not only boosts the accuracy of link predictions but also provides a theoretical basis for understanding the prediction results. We conducted extensive experiments in link prediction employing widely recognized benchmark datasets. The findings reveal that our proposed framework for link prediction exhibits commendable performance and generalization capabilities, and overall performance improved by an average of 1.2%, thereby establishing it as an effective baseline model.