This is a past event
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Nishant Malik of Dartmouth College will discuss "Can Friendship Triangles Control the Spread of Epidemics and Opinions?"

Usage of concepts from social network analysis has become very prevalent in mathematical modeling of social and biological contagion dynamics. A distinctive structural characteristic of social networks is the existence of triangles of connected nodes at a higher frequency than expected at random. Transitivity is the numerical measure of this characteristic.

Whereas the influence of transitivity on a variety of contagion dynamics has been previously explored, existing models of co-evolving network systems typically use rewiring rules that randomize away this important property, raising questions about their applicability. In contrast, Malik will introduce new modified models for the susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) epidemics and opinion formation on co-evolving networks, incorporating innovative rewiring rules which reinforce transitivity, hence providing a unique opportunity to study various effects of transitivity on the dynamics of co-evolving network systems. Using numerical simulations, Malik will identify and examine an extensive set of dynamical features in the new models. Furthermore, Malik will present a derivation of approximate master equations (AME) for the SIS model and show that for some parameter settings, the AME accurately traces the temporal evolution of the system. These methods and results may be useful not only in studying co-evolving network systems but also in developing ideas for controlling dynamics on networks. 

Contact Info

Anne Torrey
(413) 542-2100
Please call the college operator at 413-542-2000 or e-mail info@amherst.edu if you require contact info @amherst.edu