Modelling close-proximity contact networks among college students

Understanding close-proximity contacts is vitally important to the studies of transmission of respiratory infectious diseases among humans. A variety of researches have been conducted to collect close-proximity contacts in real life among human, especially college students. However, how to build a mathematical approach to model these human contact networks still remains a challenge. In this study, we propose an approach to formulate the contact network modelling problem into optimization problems, and further propose a series of models to model the network generation based on principles of human contacts and friendship. Simulation of our model, together with further comparison of network characteristics, proves the correctness of the network generation model. These mathematical models should greatly facilitate our understanding of the human contact networks and the spreading principle of infectious diseases.