Anomalous transport in complex networks

The emergence of scaling in transport through interconnected systems is a consequence of the topological structure of the network and the physical mechanisms underlying the transport dynamics. We study transport by advection and diffusion in scale-free and Erdős-Rényi networks. Using stochastic particle simulations, we find anomalous (nonlinear) scaling of the mean square displacement with time. We show the connection with existing descriptions of anomalous transport in disordered systems, and explain the mean transport behavior from the coupled nature of particle jump lengths and transition times. Moreover, we study epidemic spreading through the air transportation network with a particle-tracking model that accounts for the spatial distribution of airports, detailed air traffic and realistic (correlated) waitingtime distributions of individual agents. We use empirical data from US air travel to constrain the model parameters and validate the model's predictions of traffic patterns. We formulate a theory that identifies the most influential spreaders from the point of view of early-time spreading behavior. We find that network topology, geography, aggregate traffic and individual mobility patterns are all essential for accurate predictions of spreading.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Nicolaides, Christos

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ruben Juanes and Luis Cueto-Felgueroso.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66871

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/66871