Multiplexity-facilitated cascades in networks

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  • 1 December 2011
Abstract
Elements of networks interact in many ways, so modeling them with graphs requires multiple types of edges or network layers. Here we show that such multiplex networks can be dramatically more vulnerable to global cascades than simplex networks. We generalize the threshold cascade model [D. J. Watts, PNAS 99, 5766 (2002)] to multiplex networks, in which a node activates if a sufficiently large fraction of neighbors in any layer are active. We show that both adding layers (i.e., realizing other interactions play a role) and splitting a network into layers (i.e., recognizing distinct kinds of interactions) facilitate cascades. Layers unsusceptible to global cascades in isolation can cooperatively achieve them if coupled. On one hand, this suggests fundamental limitations on predicting cascades without full knowledge of a system's multiplexity; on the other hand, it offers means to control cascades by adding or removing sparse layers to an existing network.

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