Inhibiting failure spreading in complex networks

TL;DR

This paper presents a framework for analyzing failure spreading in complex networks and introduces network isolators, specific subgraphs that can prevent cascading failures in critical infrastructures like power grids.

Contribution

It rigorously proves the existence of network isolators and demonstrates how to construct them in real-world networks to prevent large-scale failures.

Findings

Network isolators can completely inhibit failure spreading.

Adding specific links can prevent large-scale outages.

The framework applies to both synthetic and real-world networks.

Abstract

In our daily lives, we rely on the proper functioning of supply networks, from power grids to water transmission systems. A single failure in these critical infrastructures can lead to a complete collapse through a cascading failure mechanism. Counteracting strategies are thus heavily sought after. In this article, we introduce a general framework to analyse the spreading of failures in complex networks and demonstrate that both weak and strong connections can be used to contain damages. We rigorously prove the existence of certain subgraphs, called network isolators, that can completely inhibit any failure spreading, and we show how to create such isolators in synthetic and real-world networks. The addition of selected links can thus prevent large scale outages as demonstrated for power transmission grids.