The effects of evolutionary adaptations on spreading processes in complex networks

Significance In this article, we bridge the disconnect between how spreading processes propagate and evolve in real life and the current mathematical and simulation models that ignore evolutionary adaptations. We propose a mathematical theory that reveals the effects of evolutionary adaptations on spreading processes in complex networks and highlights the shortcomings of classical epidemic models that do not capture evolution. Our work provides substantive developments to the classical theory of network epidemics and paves the way for exploring depths and revealing insights on the emergence phenomenon.