Network reconstruction problem for an epidemic reaction--diffusion system

Abstract We study the network reconstruction problem for an epidemic reaction–diffusion system. These systems are an extension of deterministic, compartmental models to a graph setting, where the reactions within the nodes are coupled by a diffusion dynamics. We study the influence of the diffusion rate and the network topology, on the reconstruction and prediction problems, both from a theoretical and experimental standpoint. Results first show that for almost every network, the reconstruction problem is well posed. Then, we show that the faster the diffusion dynamics, the harder the reconstruction, but that increasing the sampling rate may help in this respect. Second, we demonstrate that it is possible to classify symmetrical networks generating the same trajectories, and that the prediction problem can still be solved satisfyingly, even when the network topology makes exact reconstruction difficult.