Influence of geometric correlations on epidemic spreading in multiplex networks

Abstract Real-world multiplex networks are not randomly connected by several single-layer networks. In fact, there exist significant geometric correlations among different layers. In this paper, the influence of the geometric correlations, including the radial correlation and the angular correlation, on epidemic spreading on multiplex networks is investigated. The results show that the radial correlation and/or the angular correlation can reduce the epidemic threshold and lead to smaller scale of outbreak on the artificial networks. Moreover, although geometric correlations and overlapped links are positively correlated, the influence of geometric correlations on epidemic spreading cannot be replaced by overlapped links. Simulations on a real-world multiplex network indicate that the geometric correlations can produce lower threshold and smaller scale of outbreak.