TY - JOUR
T1 - Recovery coupling in multilayer networks
AU - Danziger, Michael M.
AU - Barabási, Albert László
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - The increased complexity of infrastructure systems has resulted in critical interdependencies between multiple networks—communication systems require electricity, while the normal functioning of the power grid relies on communication systems. These interdependencies have inspired an extensive literature on coupled multilayer networks, assuming a hard interdependence, where a component failure in one network causes failures in the other network, resulting in a cascade of failures across multiple systems. While empirical evidence of such hard failures is limited, the repair and recovery of a network requires resources typically supplied by other networks, resulting in documented interdependencies induced by the recovery process. In this work, we explore recovery coupling, capturing the dependence of the recovery of one system on the instantaneous functional state of another system. If the support networks are not functional, recovery will be slowed. Here we collected data on the recovery time of millions of power grid failures, finding evidence of universal nonlinear behavior in recovery following large perturbations. We develop a theoretical framework to address recovery coupling, predicting quantitative signatures different from the multilayer cascading failures. We then rely on controlled natural experiments to separate the role of recovery coupling from other effects like resource limitations, offering direct evidence of how recovery coupling affects a system’s functionality.
AB - The increased complexity of infrastructure systems has resulted in critical interdependencies between multiple networks—communication systems require electricity, while the normal functioning of the power grid relies on communication systems. These interdependencies have inspired an extensive literature on coupled multilayer networks, assuming a hard interdependence, where a component failure in one network causes failures in the other network, resulting in a cascade of failures across multiple systems. While empirical evidence of such hard failures is limited, the repair and recovery of a network requires resources typically supplied by other networks, resulting in documented interdependencies induced by the recovery process. In this work, we explore recovery coupling, capturing the dependence of the recovery of one system on the instantaneous functional state of another system. If the support networks are not functional, recovery will be slowed. Here we collected data on the recovery time of millions of power grid failures, finding evidence of universal nonlinear behavior in recovery following large perturbations. We develop a theoretical framework to address recovery coupling, predicting quantitative signatures different from the multilayer cascading failures. We then rely on controlled natural experiments to separate the role of recovery coupling from other effects like resource limitations, offering direct evidence of how recovery coupling affects a system’s functionality.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124775314&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-022-28379-5
DO - 10.1038/s41467-022-28379-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 35177590
AN - SCOPUS:85124775314
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 13
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 955
ER -