On the Real Reliability Roots of Graphs

Abstract

Consider a connected graph $G$, and assume that every edge fails independently with probability $q$. The {\em (all-terminal) reliability polynomial} is the probability in $q$ that the spanning connected subgraph of operational edges is connected. In this paper we focus on the real roots of reliability polynomials ({\em reliability roots}). We prove that almost every graph has a nonreal reliability root, and that the reliability polynomials of graphs have roots dense on the interval $[\beta,0]$ where $\beta\approx-0.5707202942$.