Complex Networks

Analysis and Simulation
of Complex Networks

Stochastic spreading processes on large complex networks: efficient simulation, analysis and control of the emerging dynamics, with applications from epidemics to neural relational inference.

About

We consider stochastic spreading processes on large complex networks and develop novel methods for efficient simulation, analysis, and control of the emerging dynamics. Topics include rejection-based simulation of non-Markovian agents, reductions to Markov population models, mean-field and pair approximations, and learning vaccine allocation strategies from simulation.

A central line of work is the COVID-19 case-study programme: how contact structure, overdispersion and individual variation shape the spread of epidemics, and how mobility restrictions interact with overdispersion.

SIS contagion on a geometric network
Continuous-time SIS contagion on a geometric network — infected nodes in red, healthy nodes in blue.

Publications

2023

1 paper

Unsupervised relational inference using masked reconstruction

2023 — Applied Network Science

PDF
@article{grossmannUnsupervisedRelationalInferenceUsing2023,
 author = {Gerrit Großmann and Julian Zimmerlin and Michael Backenköhler and Verena Wolf},
 doi = {10.1007/s41109-023-00542-x},
 journal = {Applied Network Science},
 month = {4},
 number = {18},
 pages = {1-21},
 publisher = {Springer},
 title = {Unsupervised relational inference using masked reconstruction},
 url = {https://appliednetsci.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s41109-023-00542-x},
 volume = {8},
 year = {2023}
}
DOI URL

2021

2 papers

Heterogeneity matters: Contact structure and individual variation shape epidemic dynamics

2021 — PLOS One

@article{grossmannHeterogeneityMattersContactStructure2021,
 author = {Gerrit Großmann and Michael Backenköhler and Verena Wolf},
 doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0250050},
 editor = {Vygintas Gontis},
 journal = {PLOS One},
 month = {7},
 number = {7},
 pages = {1-19},
 publisher = {Public Library of Science},
 title = {Heterogeneity matters: Contact structure and individual variation shape epidemic dynamics},
 volume = {16},
 year = {2021}
}
DOI

Epidemic overdispersion strengthens the effectiveness of mobility restrictions

2021 — HSCC ‘21: Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control. ACM International Conference on Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control (HSCC-2021), May 19-21, Nashville,, Tennesse, USA

@inproceedings{grossmannEpidemicOverdispersionStrengthensThe2021,
 author = {Gerrit Großmann and Michael Backenköhler and Verena Wolf},
 booktitle = {HSCC '21: Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control. ACM International Conference on Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control (HSCC-2021), May 19-21, Nashville,, Tennesse, USA},
 doi = {10.1145/3447928.3457209},
 isbn = {978-1-4503-8339-4},
 month = {5},
 pages = {1-3},
 publisher = {ACM, New York, NY},
 title = {Epidemic overdispersion strengthens the effectiveness of mobility restrictions},
 year = {2021}
}
DOI

2020

5 papers

Learning Vaccine Allocation from Simulations

2020 — Complex Networks & Their Applications IX. International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications (COMPLEX NETWORKS-2020), Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Complex Networks and Their Applications, December 1-3, Madrid, Spain

@inproceedings{grossmannLearningVaccineAllocationFrom2020,
 author = {Gerrit Großmann and Michael Backenköhler and Jonas Klesen and Verena Wolf},
 booktitle = {Complex Networks & Their Applications IX. International Conference on Complex Networks and their Applications (COMPLEX NETWORKS-2020), Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Complex Networks and Their Applications, December 1-3, Madrid, Spain},
 doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-65347-7_36},
 editor = {Rosa M. Benito and Chantal Cherifi and Hocine Cherifi and Esteban Moro and Luis Aurelio Rocha and Marta Sales-Pardo},
 isbn = {9783030653477},
 month = {12},
 pages = {432-443},
 publisher = {Springer International Publishing, Switzerland},
 title = {Learning Vaccine Allocation from Simulations},
 volume = {1},
 year = {2020}
}
DOI

Efficient simulation of non-Markovian dynamics on complex networks

2020 — PLOS ONE

@article{grossmannEfficientSimulationOfNonMarkovian2020,
 author = {Gerrit Großmann and Luca Bortolussi and Verena Wolf},
 doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0241394},
 editor = {Hocine Cherifi},
 journal = {PLOS ONE},
 month = {10},
 number = {10},
 pages = {1-18},
 publisher = {PLOS ONE},
 title = {Efficient simulation of non-Markovian dynamics on complex networks},
 volume = {15},
 year = {2020}
}
DOI

Importance of Interaction Structure and Stochasticity for Epidemic Spreading: A COVID-19 Case Study

2020 — Quantitative Evaluation of Systems. International Conference on Quantitative Evaluation of Systems (QEST-2020), 17th International Conference, QEST 2020, October 31 - September 1, Vienna, Austria

@inproceedings{grossmannImportanceOfInteractionStructure2020,
 author = {Gerrit Großmann and Michael Backenköhler and Verena Wolf},
 booktitle = {Quantitative Evaluation of Systems. International Conference on Quantitative Evaluation of Systems (QEST-2020), 17th International Conference, QEST 2020, October 31 - September 1, Vienna, Austria},
 doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-59854-9_16},
 edition = {1st},
 editor = {Marco Gribaudo and David N. Jansen and Anne Remke},
 isbn = {9783030598549},
 month = {9},
 pages = {211-229},
 publisher = {Springer International Publishing, Switzerland},
 title = {Importance of Interaction Structure and Stochasticity for Epidemic Spreading: A COVID-19 Case Study},
 volume = {12289},
 year = {2020}
}
DOI

Rejection-Based Simulation of Non-Markovian Agents on Complex Networks

2020 — Complex Networks and Their Applications VIII

@inproceedings{grossmannRejectionBasedSimulationOfNonMarkovian2020,
 address = {Cham},
 author = {Großmann, Gerrit and Bortolussi, Luca and Wolf, Verena},
 booktitle = {Complex Networks and Their Applications VIII},
 editor = {Cherifi, Hocine and Gaito, Sabrina and Mendes, José Fernendo and Moro, Esteban and Rocha, Luis Mateus},
 isbn = {978-3-030-36687-2},
 pages = {349--361},
 publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
 title = {Rejection-Based Simulation of Non-Markovian Agents on Complex Networks},
 year = {2020}
}

Poster Abstract: Birth-Death Processes Reproduce the Infection Footprint of Complex Networks

2020

@article{backenkohlerPosterAbstractBirthDeathProcesses2020,
 author = {Backenköhler, Michael and Grossmann, Gerrit},
 month = {01},
 pages = {},
 title = {Poster Abstract: Birth-Death Processes Reproduce the Infection Footprint of Complex Networks},
 year = {2020}
}

2019

2 papers

Rejection-Based Simulation of Stochastic Spreading Processes on Complex

2019 — Hybrid Systems Biology - 6th International Workshop, Revised Selected Papers. International Workshop on Hybrid Systems Biology (HSB-2019), April 6-7, Prague, Czech Republic

@inproceedings{grossmannRejectionBasedSimulationOfStochastic2019,
 author = {Gerrit Großmann and Verena Wolf},
 booktitle = {Hybrid Systems Biology - 6th International Workshop, Revised Selected Papers. International Workshop on Hybrid Systems Biology (HSB-2019), April 6-7, Prague, Czech Republic},
 doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-28042-0_5},
 editor = {Milan Češka and Nicola Paoletti},
 isbn = {978-3-030-28041-3},
 month = {8},
 pages = {63-79},
 publisher = {Springer Nature},
 series = {Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics, LNBI},
 title = {Rejection-Based Simulation of Stochastic Spreading Processes on Complex},
 volume = {11705},
 year = {2019}
}
DOI

Reducing Spreading Processes on Networks to Markov Population Models

2019 — Quantitative Evaluation of Systems

@inproceedings{grossmannReducingSpreadingProcessesOn2019,
 address = {Cham},
 author = {Großmann, Gerrit and Bortolussi, Luca},
 booktitle = {Quantitative Evaluation of Systems},
 editor = {Parker, David and Wolf, Verena},
 isbn = {978-3-030-30281-8},
 pages = {292--309},
 publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
 title = {Reducing Spreading Processes on Networks to Markov Population Models},
 year = {2019}
}

2018

2 papers

Lumping of degree-based mean-field and pair-approximation equations for multistate contact processes

2018 — Phys. Rev. E

@article{kyriakopoulosLumpingOfDegreeBasedMeanField2018,
$ of the network, which is much smaller than the size of the master equation of the underlying stochastic model, yet numerically solving these equations can still be problematic for large $k_{\max}$. In this paper, we consider AME and PA, extended to cope with multiple local states, and we provide an aggregation procedure that clusters together nodes having similar degrees, treating those in the same cluster as indistinguishable, thus reducing the number of equations while preserving an accurate description of global observables of interest. We also provide an automatic way to build such equations and to identify a small number of degree clusters that give accurate results. The method is tested on several case studies, where it shows a high level of compression and a reduction of computational time of several orders of magnitude for large networks, with minimal loss in accuracy},
 author = {Kyriakopoulos, Charalampos and Grossmann, Gerrit and Wolf, Verena and Bortolussi, Luca},
 doi = {10.1103/PhysRevE.97.012301},
 issue = {1},
 journal = {Phys. Rev. E},
 month = {Jan},
 numpages = {15},
 pages = {012301},
 publisher = {American Physical Society},
 title = {Lumping of degree-based mean-field and pair-approximation equations for multistate contact processes},
 url = {https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.97.012301},
 volume = {97},
 year = {2018}
}
DOI URL

Lumping the Approximate Master Equation for Multistate Processes on Complex Networks

2018 — Quantitative Evaluation of Systems

@inproceedings{grossmannLumpingTheApproximateMaster2018,
 address = {Cham},
 author = {Großmann, Gerrit and Kyriakopoulos, Charalampos and Bortolussi, Luca and Wolf, Verena},
 booktitle = {Quantitative Evaluation of Systems},
 editor = {McIver, Annabelle and Horvath, Andras},
 isbn = {978-3-319-99154-2},
 pages = {157--172},
 publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
 title = {Lumping the Approximate Master Equation for Multistate Processes on Complex Networks},
 year = {2018}
}