While recent advances in the modelling of spatial and temporal networks have enabled more-accurate descriptions of many real-world systems, existing approaches do not capture the combined constraint that space and time impose on the relationships and interactions present in a spatio-temporal network. This results, for example, in an over-simplification of the robustness of a system and obscures its true structure. Here, we introduce and evaluate a new framework for analysing spatio-temporal networks. We define reachability using a constrained propagation process over a time-varying network of interaction speeds between spatially embedded nodes. The framework provides an elegant means of quantifying the topological, temporal, and spatial properties of a network. With this framework we numerically investigate the response of real-world systems to random failure and systematic attack.
Contact: Keith Briggs () or Richard G. Clegg (richard@richardclegg.org)