Effect of individual heterogeneity on the coupled spread of information and disease in higher-order multiplex networks

In complex systems, connections within individuals occur through pairwise and higher-order interactions. Individual heterogeneity in the coupled spread of information and disease has been widely studied in pairwise interactions but rarely in higher-order interactions. In this paper, we propose a higher-order multiplex networks coupled model (hUAU-hSIS) that examines how individual heterogeneity in activity levels, information reception levels, and interlayer coupling levels affect the coupled spread of information and disease. Initially, the evolution dynamics equations in various states and the equilibrium point of the system are analyzed using mean-field theory. Subsequently, numerical simulations demonstrate that heightening activity levels facilitates the spread of both information and disease. A reduction of activity levels at the disease layer is more effective at inhibiting disease spread than at the information layer. In addition, individuals with larger degrees have a greater impact on the diffusion dynamics of the model compared to individuals with smaller degrees. Moreover, the information reception levels have opposing effects on the dynamics of the system, where increasing information reception levels facilitates the dissemination of information and inhibits the spread of disease. Furthermore, enhancing interlayer coupling levels will inhibit the spread of disease. Finally, a discontinuous phase transition zone emerged as a consequence of higher-order interactions, and alterations in this region have a strong correlation with activity level. Our work can inform disease control strategies as well as offer fresh perspectives on the development of higher-order multiplex networks.