2005/08/22 by Erik Volz, Volz, Erik · 1 citation
Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Complex Network Analysis Techniques #Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn) #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology Models #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other) #Other Quantitative Biology (q-bio.OT) #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.physics/0508160
openalex publication_date 2005/08/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Most epidemic models assume equal mixing among members of a population. An alternative approach is to model a population as random network in which individuals may have heterogeneous connectivity. This paper builds on previous research by describing the exact dynamical behavior of epidemics as they occur in random networks. A system of nonlinear differential equations is presented which describes the behavior of epidemics spreading through random networks with arbitrary degree distributions. The degree distribution is observed to have significant impact on both the final size and time scale of epidemics.