English

Phase Boundary of a Stochastic Watts-Threshold SIS Model on Random Networks

Social and Information Networks 2026-06-29 v1

Abstract

Complex contagion models, in which adoption requires reinforcement from multiple neighbors, have been extensively studied in the monotone (no-recovery) setting, but the phase diagram of threshold models with SIS-like recovery on networks remains unmapped. We study a stochastic Watts-threshold SIS model on Erdos-Renyi and Barabasi-Albert networks and reconstruct its extinction-persistence phase boundary in the joint parameter space of transmission rate β\beta, adoption threshold θ\theta, and infectious duration dd. Using adaptive Delaunay-based sampling and weighted logistic regression on over 180,000 Monte Carlo trials, we find that: (i) the boundary is well described by a six-parameter interaction model whose structure is invariant across both topologies; (ii) the transition is sharp, with the 10-90\% extinction-probability band spanning only Δθ0.005\Delta\theta \approx 0.005-0.0080.008; and (iii) the adoption threshold is the dominant parameter governing epidemic feasibility, with transmission rate and infectious duration playing secondary and asymmetric roles. The characterization provides a quantitative reference for the complex-contagion analogue of the classical SIS epidemic threshold.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2606.30069,
  title  = {Phase Boundary of a Stochastic Watts-Threshold SIS Model on Random Networks},
  author = {Yasmine Beji and Heger Arfaoui and Slimane BenMiled},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2606.30069},
  year   = {2026}
}