An automatic density peaks clustering based on a density-distance clustering index

The density peaks clustering (DPC) algorithm plays an important role in data mining by quickly identifying cluster centers using decision graphs to identify arbitrary clusters. However, the decision graph introduces uncertainty in determining the cluster centers, which can result in an incorrect number of clusters. In addition, the cut-off distance parameter relies on prior knowledge, which poses a limitation. To address these issues, we propose an improved automatic density peaks clustering (ADPC) algorithm. First, a novel clustering validity index called density-distance clustering (DDC) is introduced. The DDC index draws inspiration from the density and distance characteristics of cluster centers, which is applicable to DPC and aligns with the general definition of clustering. Based on the DDC index, the ADPC algorithm automatically selects the suitable cut-off distance and acquires the optimal number of clusters without additional parameters. Numerical experimental results validate that the introduced ADPC algorithm successfully automatically determines the optimal number of clusters and cut-off distance, significantly outperforming DPC, AP and DBSCAN algorithms.