Coevolution of cooperation and layer selection strategies in multiplex networks

Recently, the emergent dynamics in multiplex networks, composed of layers of multiple networks, has been discussed extensively in network sciences. However, little is still known about whether and how the evolution of strategy for selecting which layer to participate in can contribute to the emergence of cooperative behaviors in multiplex network of social interactions. For this purpose, we constructed a coevolutionary model of cooperation and layer selection strategies in which each individual selects one layer from multiple layers of social networks and play Prisoner’s Dilemma with neighbors in the selected layer. We found that proportion of cooperative strategies increased with increasing the number of layers regardless of the degree of dilemma, and this increase occurred due to the cyclic coevolution processes of game strategies and layer selection strategies.