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arXiv · 1802.07261

The Mathematics of Human Contact: Developing a Model for Social Interaction in School Children

Stephen Ashton·Enrico Scalas·Nicos Georgiou·István Zoltán Kiss
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Abstract

In this paper, we provide a statistical analysis of high-resolution contact pattern data within primary and secondary schools as collected by the SocioPatterns collaboration. Students are graphically represented as nodes in a temporally evolving network, in which links represent proximity or interaction between students. This article focuses on link- and node-level statistics, such as the on- and off-durations of links as well as the activity potential of nodes and links. Parametric models are fitted to the on- and off-durations of links, inter-event times and node activity potentials and, based on these, we propose a number of theoretical models that are able to reproduce the collected data within varying levels of accuracy. By doing so, we aim to identify the minimal network-level properties that are needed to closely match the real-world data, with the aim of combining this contact pattern model with epidemic models in future work.

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Stephen Ashton, Enrico Scalas, Nicos Georgiou, István Zoltán Kiss. 2018-02-20. The Mathematics of Human Contact: Developing a Model for Social Interaction in School Children. https://doi.org/10.12693/aphyspola.133.1421

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