# On rumour propagation among sceptics

## TL;DR

This paper investigates models of rumour spread among sceptical individuals who require multiple sources for transmission, extending coverage models in stochastic geometry to include at least double coverage of points.

## Contribution

It introduces and analyzes models of rumour propagation with sceptical agents requiring multiple confirmations, extending existing coverage models in stochastic geometry.

## Key findings

- Sceptical transmission reduces the spread of rumours.
- Double coverage models generalize traditional single coverage models.
- Results provide insights into the robustness of information dissemination.

## Abstract

Junior, Machado and Zuluaga (2011) studied a model to understand the spread of a rumour. Their model consists of individuals situated at the integer points of the line $\N$. An individual at the origin $0$ starts a rumour and passes it to all individuals in the interval $[0,R_0]$, where $R_0$ is a non-negative random variable. An individual located at $i$ in this interval receives the rumour and transmits it further among individuals in $[i, i+R_i]$ where $R_0$ and $R_i$ are i.i.d. random variables. The rumour spreads in this manner. An alternate model considers individuals seeking to find the rumour from individuals who have already heard it. For this s/he asks individuals to the left of her/him and lying in an interval of a random size. We study these two models, when the individuals are more sceptical and they transmit or accept the rumour only if they receive it from at least two different sources. In stochastic geometry the equivalent of this rumour process is the study of coverage of the space $\N^d$ by random sets. Our study here extends the study of coverage of space and considers the case when each vertex of $\N^d$ is covered by at least two distinct random sets.