Social contagion in high-order network with mutation

Abstract

The simplicial contagion model is employed to study the spreads of two epidemics with mutation in high-order networks. The original epidemic can give birth to a mutated epidemic, but not vice versa. Numerical simulations and mean-field theory results reveal that the spread of the mutated epidemic is entirely dependent on the original epidemic if it cannot spread independently. Conversely, the spread of the original epidemic is entirely inhibited when mutated epidemic spreads by itself. The stability analysis of mean-field theory explains the extinction of the original epidemic and the emergence of a bistable region. Two stable equilibrium points remain unchanged despite variations in parameters like the original epidemic's infection probabilities and mutation rates. While the neighborhood of the stable equilibrium points is regulated by the above parameters. Our conclusions have also been validated in real-world networks.