title: Epidemic spreading on interconnected networks.
abstract: Many real networks are not isolated from each other but form networks of networks, often interrelated in nontrivial ways. Here, we analyze an epidemic spreading process taking place on top of two interconnected complex networks. We develop a heterogeneous mean-field approach that allows us to calculate the conditions for the emergence of an endemic state. Interestingly, a global endemic state may arise in the coupled system even though the epidemics is not able to propagate on each network separately and even when the number of coupling connections is small. Our analytic results are successfully confronted against large-scale numerical simulations.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Física Fonamental, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saumell-Mendiola
authors.forename: M Ángeles
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.forename: Marián
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boguñá
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D003198:Computer Simulation; D058872:Epidemics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011336:Probability