Thermodynamic efficiency of contagions: a statistical mechanical analysis of the SIS epidemic model.

ABSTRACT: We present a novel approach to the study of epidemics on networks as thermodynamic phenomena, quantifying the thermodynamic efficiency of contagions, considered as distributed computational processes. Modelling SIS dynamics on a contact network statistical-mechanically, we follow the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) principle to obtain steady-state distributions and derive, under certain assumptions, relevant thermodynamic quantities both analytically and numerically. In particular, we obtain closed-form solutions for some cases, while interpreting key epidemic variables, such as the reproductive ratio of a SIS model, in a statistical mechanical setting. On the other hand, we consider configuration and free entropy, as well as the Fisher information, in the epidemiological context. This allowed us

SUBMITTER: Harding N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6227806 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature