Link Cascades in Complex Networks: A Mean-field Approach
King Chun Wong, Sai-Ping Li
Chaos, 2021
Failure of complex networks often occurs in a cascading manner, meaning that failure of one component of the system can trigger the failure of other nearby components, thereby causing a large-scale collapse of the entire system. While conventional cascade failure is studied by considering damage that propagates from one node to another, the cause of failure can also be damage in the links of the network. This study proposes a mean-field model to investigate the possibility and consequences of cascading link damage. The results show that the vulnerability of a node under link damage is closely related to the number of links it is connected to. In particular, there is an optimal number of connections for a node to be most resistant to link damage. The results provide insights into the design of complex networks and have potential applications in areas such as transportation, biology, and social science, where link damage is of concern.
WebSite: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0072094