Physical Realizations of Interdependent Networks: Analogy to Percolation

Percolation on interdependent networks generalizes the well-studied percolation model in a single network to multiple interacting systems, unveiling spontaneous cascading failures, abrupt collapses, and high vulnerability. The main novelty of interdependent networks has been the introduction of two types of links, connectivity within networks and the dependency between them. The interplay between these two types of interactions results in novel critical phenomena and phase transitions. This abstract percolation paradigm was recently applied to magnetic networks, as an experimentally testable method for interdependent superconducting networks as well as to other systems like k-core percolation and overloaded networks. Here, we will review these physical applications and provide insights into several potential directions for the field of physically interdependent networks.