Temporal network motifs: concepts, algorithms, and applications

Network motifs are fundamental tools for analyzing complex systems, which provide deep insights into the functional abilities of networks. Temporal networks have attracted growing attention for modeling the dynamics of real-world systems, and there is a growing need to properly reinterpret network motifs for various practical applications. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the studies on temporal network motifs. First, we systematically introduce and analyze the various concepts of temporal network motifs and their corresponding discovery algorithms. Second, we review existing applications of temporal network motifs. Finally, we list the challenges and opportunities in temporal network motif research. We hope this article provides valuable insights for researchers interested in temporal network analysis.