We investigate the failure characteristics of complex networks within the framework of the fiber bundle model subject to the local load sharing rule in which the load of the broken fiber is transferred only to its neighbor fibers. Although the load sharing is strictly local, it is found that the critical behavior belongs to the universality class of global load sharing where the load is transferred equally to all fibers in the system. From the numerical simulations and the analytical approach applied to the microscopic behavior, it is revealed that the emergence of a single dominant hub cluster of broken fibers causes the global load sharing effect in the failure process.

• Received 17 August 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.025501