Critical behavior of $k$-core percolation: Numerical studies

TL;DR

This study numerically investigates the critical behavior of $k$-core percolation on Erd ext{"o}s-Rényi networks, revealing divergent fluctuations and classifying critical exponents, thus advancing understanding of hybrid phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed numerical analysis of critical exponents and their coupling in $k$-core percolation, highlighting universal features of hybrid phase transitions.

Findings

Fluctuations of the order parameter diverge differently from mean avalanche size.

Critical exponents can be classified into two coupled sets.

Universal features of critical behavior are discussed.

Abstract

$k$-Core percolation has served as a paradigmatic model of discontinuous percolation for a long time. Recently it was revealed that the order parameter of $k$-core percolation of random networks additionally exhibits critical behavior. Thus $k$-core percolation exhibits a hybrid phase transition. Unlike the critical behaviors of ordinary percolation that are well understood, those of hybrid percolation transitions have not been thoroughly understood yet. Here, we investigate the critical behavior of $k$-core percolation of Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi networks. We find numerically that the fluctuations of the order parameter and the mean avalanche size diverge in different ways. Thus, we classify the critical exponents into two types: those associated with the order parameter and those with finite avalanches. The conventional scaling relations hold within each set, however, these two critical exponents are coupled. Finally we discuss some universal features of the critical behaviors of $k$-core percolation and the cascade failure model on multiplex networks.