Optimal Control of ISTR Rumor Propagation Model with Social Reinforcement in Heterogeneous Network

Abstract

The wide spread of rumor is undoubtedly harmful to social stability; we should try to lower the effect of rumor on society. Therefore, it is reasonable to put forward the rumor control strategy on the basis of the study of the law of rumor propagation. Firstly, the ISTR model of rumor is established by including influencing factors of true information spreader and social reinforcement. And by using the next generation matrix method, the basic reproduction number of rumor is obtained. Then, in order to minimize the adverse effects of rumors, through introducing two control strategies of scientific knowledge popularization and refutation of rumors, the optimal control problem is established. And through using Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle, the optimal solution of the rumor propagation model is solved. Finally, through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, some results can be obtained. The results show that adding true information spreaders into the rumor model can effectively control the rumor propagation, and social reinforcement plays a significance role in rumor. The results also prove that these two control strategies can effectively inhibit the propagation of rumors. With the addition of control strategies, the number of true information spreaders increases, while the number of rumor spreaders decreases.