Remarks on bootstrap percolation in metric networks

We examine bootstrap percolation in d-dimensional, directed metric graphs in the context of recent measurements of firing dynamics in 2D neuronal cultures. There are two regimes depending on the graph size N. Large metric graphs are ignited by the occurrence of critical nuclei, which initially occupy an infinitesimal fraction, f∗ → 0, of the graph and then explode throughout a finite fraction. Smaller metric graphs are effectively random in the sense that their ignition requires the initial ignition of a finite, unlocalized fraction of the graph, f∗ > 0. The crossover between the two regimes is at a size N∗ which scales exponentially with the connectivity range λ like N∗ ∼ exp λd. The neuronal cultures are finite metric graphs of size N ≃ 105 − 106, which, for the parameters of the experiment, is effectively random since N ≪ N∗. This explains the seeming contradiction in the observed finite f∗ in these cultures. Finally, we discuss the dynamics of the firing front.