Non-Markovian recovery makes complex networks more resilient against large-scale failures

  • Zhao-Hua Lin
  • , Mi Feng
  • , Ming Tang*
  • , Zonghua Liu*
  • , Chen Xu
  • , Pak Ming Hui
  • , Ying-Cheng Lai
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

41 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Non-Markovian spontaneous recovery processes with a time delay (memory) are ubiquitous in the real world. How does the non-Markovian characteristic affect failure propagation in complex networks? We consider failures due to internal causes at the nodal level and external failures due to an adverse environment, and develop a pair approximation analysis taking into account the two-node correlation. In general, a high failure stationary state can arise, corresponding to large-scale failures that can significantly compromise the functioning of the network. We uncover a striking phenomenon: memory associated with nodal recovery can counter-intuitively make the network more resilient against large-scale failures. In natural systems, the intrinsic non-Markovian characteristic of nodal recovery may thus be one reason for their resilience. In engineering design, incorporating certain non-Markovian features into the network may be beneficial to equipping it with a strong resilient capability to resist catastrophic failures.
Original languageEnglish
Article number2490
Number of pages10
JournalNature Communications
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 May 2020

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