Criticality and universality in network dismantling

[2608.27613] Criticality and universality in network dismantling Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Physics > Physics and Society arXiv:2608.27613 (physics) [Submitted on 27 Aug 2026] Title: Criticality and universality in network dismantling Authors: Lorenzo Cirigliano , Claudio Castellano , Minsuk Kim , Filippo Radicchi , Hanlin Sun View PDF Abstract: Identifying the smallest set of elements whose removal dismantle a complex network, known as the network dismantling problem, is a fundamental task with many practical applications. Whereas network dismantling has been extensively studied over the past decade, most work has focused on developing efficient algorithms for large but finite networks. By contrast, the physics of the network dismantling process, namely how the network structural connectivity is affected by the removal of nodes or edges, remains largely unexplored in the thermodynamic limit. Here, we shed light on this understudied aspect of network dismantling by introducing an adaptive biased percolation process able to optimally dismantle a network. Through a systematic analysis of synthetic network models, we find that the proposed percolation process displays a universal phase transition, characterized by the abrupt and simultaneous disappearance of both the giant connected component and the largest 2-core, across networks with markedly different degree distributions. Simulations on real networks further support this universality, indicating that the physics of network dismantling is insensitive to a broad range of topological properties. Together, these results suggest that a topology-agnostic theory could be developed to explain the critical behavior of network dismantling. Comments: 17 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables + supplemental material Subjects: Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) ; Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech); Social and Information Networks (cs.SI) Cite as: arXiv:2608.27613 [physics.soc-ph] (or arXiv:2608.27613v1 [physics.soc-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.27613 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Filippo Radicchi [ view email ] [v1] Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:46:19 UTC (3,538 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF TeX Source view license Current browse context: physics.soc-ph < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.stat-mech cs cs.SI physics References & Citations SciX Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab)

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