HeNCler: Node Clustering in Heterophilous Graphs through Learned Asymmetric Similarity

Clustering nodes in heterophilous graphs presents unique challenges due to the asymmetric relationships often overlooked by traditional methods, which moreover assume that good clustering corresponds to high intra-cluster and low inter-cluster connectivity. To address these issues, we introduce HeNCler - a novel approach for Heterophilous Node Clustering. Our method begins by defining a weighted kernel singular value decomposition to create an asymmetric similarity graph, applicable to both directed and undirected graphs. We further establish that the dual problem of this formulation aligns with asymmetric kernel spectral clustering, interpreting learned graph similarities without relying on homophily. We demonstrate the ability to solve the primal problem directly, circumventing the computational difficulties of the dual approach. Experimental evidence confirms that HeNCler significantly enhances performance in node clustering tasks within heterophilous graph contexts.