Percolation and the pandemic

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Dietrich Stauffer, who was a pioneer in percolation theory and applications of it to problems of society, such as epidemiology. An epidemic is a percolation process gone out of control, that is, going beyond the critical transition threshold $p_c$. Here we discuss how the threshold is related to the basic infectivity of neighbors $R_0$, for trees (Bethe lattice), trees with triangular cliques, and in non-planar lattice percolation with extended-range connectivity. It is shown how having a smaller range of contacts increases the critical value of $R_0$ above the value $R_{0,c}=1$ appropriate for a tree, an infinite-range system or a large completely connected graph.