Contagion in simplicial complexes

Zhaoqing Li, Zhenghong Deng, Zhen Han, Karin Alfaro-Bittner, Baruch Barzel and Stefano Boccaletti

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 2021, vol. 152, issue C

Abstract: The propagation of information in social, biological and technological systems represents a crucial component in their dynamic behavior. When limited to pairwise interactions, a rather firm grip is available on the relevant parameters and critical transitions of these spreading processes, most notably the pandemic transition, which indicates the conditions for the spread to cover a large fraction of the network. The challenge is that, in many relevant applications, the spread is driven by higher order relationships, in which several components undergo a group interaction. To address this, we analyze the spreading dynamics in a simplicial complex environment, designed to capture the coexistence of interactions of different orders. We find that, while pairwise interactions play a key role in the initial stages of the spread, once it gains coverage, higher order simplices take over and drive the contagion dynamics. The result is a distinctive spreading phase diagram, exhibiting a discontinuous pandemic transition, and hence offering a qualitative departure from the traditional network spreading dynamics.

Keywords: SIS model; Complex network; High-order interactions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:152:y:2021:i:c:s0960077921006615

DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2021.111307

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