Measuring network resilience through connection patterns

TL;DR

This paper proposes a theoretical method to measure network resilience by analyzing how shocks propagate through connection patterns, tested on US airport networks to evaluate their robustness.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theoretical model for assessing network resilience based on connection patterns and validates it with real-world airport network data.

Findings

Model effectively captures shock propagation dynamics.

Resilience varies significantly between airport networks.

Insights can inform infrastructure robustness improvements.

Abstract

Networks are at the core of modeling many engineering contexts, mainly in the case of infrastructures and communication systems. The resilience of a network, which is the property of the system capable of absorbing external shocks, is then of paramount relevance in the applications. This paper deals with this topic by advancing a theoretical proposal for measuring the resilience of a network. The proposal is based on the study of the shocks propagation along the patterns of connections among nodes. The theoretical model is tested on the real-world instances of two important airport systems in the US air traffic network; Illinois (including the hub of Chicago) and New York states (with JFK airport).