Link-limited bypass rewiring for enhancing the robustness of complex networks

Abstract

Real-world networks often encounter disruptions that can have profound societal impacts. Therefore, enhancing network robustness against random failures and targeted attacks is crucial. Bypass rewiring, in which adjacent nodes are immediately reconnected following node removal, has been proposed as a promising method for enhancing network robustness. However, this method typically requires numerous bypass links and incurs significant costs. In this paper, we propose link-limited bypass rewiring, in which bypass links are reconnected stochastically. Additionally, we investigate the relationship between the number of bypass links and robustness improvement. Our findings, which are based on analytical and numerical results, reveal a tradeoff relationship between the number of added bypass links and robustness enhancement. Notably, preferentially reconnecting high-degree nodes was found to be effective for improving robustness. These insights can inform the design of resilient systems in real-world networks, offering strategies for enhancing robustness against node removal.