Given a power grid modeled by a network together with equations describing
the power flows, power generation and consumption, and the laws of physics, the
so-called N-k problem asks whether there exists a set of k or fewer arcs whose
removal will cause the system to fail. The case where k is small is of
practical interest. We present theoretical and computational results involving
a mixed-integer model and a continuous nonlinear model related to this
question.Comment: 40 pages 3 figure
