Polynomial growth in branching processes with diverging reproductive number

Abstract

We study the spreading dynamics on graphs with a power law degree distribution pk approximately k-gamma, with 2<gamma<3, as an example of a branching process with a diverging reproductive number. We provide evidence that the divergence of the second moment of the degree distribution carries as a consequence a qualitative change in the growth pattern, deviating from the standard exponential growth. First, the population growth is extensive, meaning that the average number of vertices reached by the spreading process becomes of the order of the graph size in a time scale that vanishes in the large graph size limit. Second, the temporal evolution is governed by a polynomial growth, with a degree determined by the characteristic distance between vertices in the graph. These results open a path to further investigation on the dynamics on networks.