# Rethinking the Graph Polynomial Filter via Positive and Negative Coupling Analysis

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.10353 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.10353/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 22 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Apr 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 22 of 22)

- [Semi-Supervised Classification with Graph Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.02907/) (2016)
- [Neural Message Passing for Quantum Chemistry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.01212/) (2017)
- [Convolutional Neural Networks on Graphs with Fast Localized Spectral Filtering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.09375/) (2016)
- [Deeper Insights into Graph Convolutional Networks for Semi-Supervised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.07606/) (2018)
- [Representation Learning on Graphs with Jumping Knowledge Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.03536/) (2018)
- [Simple and Deep Graph Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.02133/) (2020)
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- [Large Scale Learning on Non-Homophilous Graphs: New Benchmarks and Strong Simple Methods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.14446/) (2021)
- [BernNet: Learning Arbitrary Graph Spectral Filters via Bernstein Approximation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.10994/) (2021)
- [How Powerful are Spectral Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11172/) (2022)
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- [Interpreting and Unifying Graph Neural Networks with An Optimization Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.11859/) (2021)
- [DeepInf: Social Influence Prediction with Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.05560/) (2018)
- [Revisiting Graph based Collaborative Filtering: A Linear Residual Graph Convolutional Network Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.10167/) (2020)
- [Convolutional Neural Networks on Graphs with Chebyshev Approximation, Revisited](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.03580/) (2022)
- [Generalizing Graph Neural Networks on Out-Of-Distribution Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.10657/) (2021)
- [A Non-Asymptotic Analysis of Oversmoothing in Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.10701/) (2022)
- [RAW-GNN: RAndom Walk Aggregation based Graph Neural Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.13953/) (2022)
- [A Neural Collapse Perspective on Feature Evolution in Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.01951/) (2023)
- [Learning Graph Neural Networks with Positive and Unlabeled Nodes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.04683/) (2021)
- [Enhance Information Propagation for Graph Neural Network by Heterogeneous Aggregations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.04064/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Recently, the optimization of polynomial filters within Spectral Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) has emerged as a prominent research focus. Existing spectral GNNs mainly emphasize polynomial properties in filter design, introducing computational overhead and neglecting the integration of crucial graph structure information. We argue that incorporating graph information into basis construction can enhance understanding of polynomial basis, and further facilitate simplified polynomial filter design. Motivated by this, we first propose a Positive and Negative Coupling Analysis (PNCA) framework, where the concepts of positive and negative activation are defined and their respective and mixed effects are analysed. Then, we explore PNCA from the message propagation perspective, revealing the subtle information hidden in the activation process. Subsequently, PNCA is used to analyze the mainstream polynomial filters, and a novel simple basis that decouples the positive and negative activation and fully utilizes graph structure information is designed. Finally, a simple GNN (called GSCNet) is proposed based on the new basis. Experimental results on the benchmark datasets for node classification verify that our GSCNet obtains better or comparable results compared with existing state-of-the-art GNNs while demanding relatively less computational time.