Impact of network overlapping on dynamical interplay between information and epidemics

Abstract

Here we introduce a new model to study the interaction between epidemics and information spreading in multiplex network, in which these two diffusive processes affect each other. In this model, the information spreading can inhibit the epidemics, which can be reflected by both transient process and steady state. However, the epidemics facilitates the information spreading in transient process, but not in steady state. Moreover, we study the role of network overlapping and find that overlapping doesn't just amplify the effect of information. In some cases network overlapping can have different roles on the inhibiting effect of information spreading, which depends on the relative time scale between two dynamics. When epidemic spreading is much quicker than information or they are with comparable time scale, increasing network overlapping can promote the inhibiting effect of information on epidemics. On the contrary, when information is much quicker, increasing network overlapping will first weaken the inhibiting effect to some extent and then enhance it again. This implies that network overlapping doesn't always act positively in inhibiting epidemics.