def _remove_bottleneck(net_flux, path):
    """
    Internal function for modifying the net flux matrix by removing
    a particular edge, corresponding to the bottleneck of a particular
    path.
    """
    net_flux = copy.copy(net_flux)

    bottleneck_ind = net_flux[path[:-1], path[1:]].argmin()

    net_flux[path[bottleneck_ind], path[bottleneck_ind + 1]] = 0.0

    return net_flux