Network permeability changes according to a quadratic power law upon removal of a single edge

Abstract

We report an empirical power law for the reduction of network permeability in statistically homogeneous spatial networks upon removal of a single edge. We characterize this power law for plexus-like microvascular sinusoidal networks from liver tissue, as well as perturbed twoand three-dimensional regular lattices. We provide a heuristic argument for the observed power law by mapping arbitrary spatial networks that satisfies Darcy's law on an small-scale resistor network.