[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Functional percolation: criticality of form and function

## Details

**Authors** Wilkerson

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** Journal of Complex Networks

**Discipline** Network Science

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1093/comnet/cnag030) 
10.1093/comnet/cnag030

## In authors' words

### What they found (results)

In Erdős–Rényi networks, emergence of the giant connected component coincides with a sharp jump in realizable input-output functions, rising output entropy, and transfer-entropy-based information flow extending beyond local neighborhoods, with a Pareto-optimal tradeoff between functional complexity and diversity near criticality.

## Commentary

### In short

A whole-network structural transition (percolation threshold) creates a sharp boundary that simultaneously reorganizes the functional relationships and information flows the system can support, tying a distinction, a systems property, and relationships to one event.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R

**Added** 2026-09-04

**How to cite this** Wilkerson (2026). Functional percolation: criticality of form and function. Journal of Complex Networks.