Scotching a Damaging Rumor

On the birth-and-assassination process, with an application to scotching a rumor in a network

We give new formulas on the total number of born particles in the stable birthand-assassination process, and prove that it has a heavy-tailed distribution. We also establish that this process is a scaling limit of a process of rumor scotching in a network, and is related to a predator-prey dynamics.

On the birth-and-assassination process, with an application to scotching a rumor in a network

We give new formulas on the total number of born particles in the stable birth-and-assassination process, and prove that it has a heavy-tailed distribution. We also establish that this process is a scaling limit of a process of rumor scotching in a network, and is related to a predator-prey dynamics.

Scotching Dutch Books?

A Quasirandom Rumor Spreading

Randomized rumor spreading or random phone call protocols are simple randomized epidemic algorithms designed to distribute a piece of information in a network. They build on the basic paradigm that informed vertices call random neighbors to inform them (push model), or that uninformed vertices call random neighbors to become informed if the neighbor is (pull model). Despite the simple concept, ...

Rumor Cascades

Online social networks provide a rich substrate for rumor propagation. Information received via friends tends to be trusted, and online social networks allow individuals to transmit information to many friends at once. By referencing known rumors from Snopes.com, a popular website documenting memes and urban legends, we track the propagation of thousands of rumors appearing on Facebook. From th...