A novel measure of edge and vertex centrality for assessing robustness in complex networks

Abstract

In this work, we propose a novel robustness measure for networks, which we refer to as Effective Resistance Centrality of a vertex (or an edge), defined as the relative drop of the Kirchhoff index due to deletion of this vertex (edge) from the network. Indeed, we provide a local robustness measure, able to catch which is the effect of either a specific vertex or a specific edge on the network robustness. The validness of this new measure is illustrated on some typical graphs and on a wide variety of well-known model networks. Furthermore, we analyse the topology of the US domestic flight connections. In particular, we investigate the role that airports play in maintaining the structure of the entire network.