  Finding the set of nodes, which removed or (de)activated can stop the spread
of (dis)information, contain an epidemic or disrupt the functioning of a
corrupt/criminal organization is still one of the key challenges in network
science. In this paper, we introduce the generalized network dismantling
problem, which aims to find the set of nodes that, when removed from a network,
results in a network fragmentation into subcritical network components at
minimum cost. For unit costs, our formulation becomes equivalent to the
standard network dismantling problem. Our non-unit cost generalization allows
for the inclusion of topological cost functions related to node centrality and
non-topological features such as the price, protection level or even social
value of a node. In order to solve this optimization problem, we propose a
method, which is based on the spectral properties of a novel node-weighted
Laplacian operator. The proposed method is applicable to large-scale networks
with millions of nodes. It outperforms current state-of-the-art methods and
opens new directions in understanding the vulnerability and robustness of
complex systems.
