Random trees and Random Graphs

Period of duration of course
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Course info
Number of course hours
40
Number of hours of lecturers of reference
40
CFU 6
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Modalità esame

Assessment will take place through a written test and an oral exam.

Note modalità di esame

Alternative or supplementary assessment methods (e.g., a seminar presentation) may be agreed upon, particularly for PhD students.

Lecturer

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Prerequisiti

The course is recommended for both master's students and PhD students, and potentially for interested third-year undergraduate students. There are no significant technical prerequisites other than the course Elements of Probability and Statistics (052AA); however, the course Probability (070AA) is strongly recommended. This course is intended in part as a complement to Probability on Graphs, but the two courses may be taken in either order.

Programma

The course will cover several aspects of the theory of random graphs. First, we will discuss in some detail the model of Bienaimé–Galton–Watson trees, together with their local and scaling limits. We shall then turn to the Erdős–Rényi model and study its phase transition(s), as well as some related examples and generalisations such as the configuration model, inhomogeneous random graphs, etc. Finally, we will delve into the theory of random planar maps and their limits, highlighting combinatorial techniques for enumeration and ties to different areas of Mathematics and Physics.

Obiettivi formativi

The course introduces some of the main classical models of random graphs, as well as probabilistic and combinatorial techniques used in their analysis. Students will gain familiarity with these methods, as well as with phenomena such as phase transitions and asymptotic limits of random structures.

Riferimenti bibliografici

N. Curien, A random walk among random graphs, Cours Spécialisés, 31, Soc. Math. France, Paris, 2025; MR5008856

R. van der Hofstad, Random graphs and complex networks., Cambridge Series in Statistical and Probabilistic Mathematics, [43], Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2017; MR3617364

J.-F. Le Gall and G. Miermont, Scaling limits of random trees and planar maps, in Probability and statistical physics in two and more dimensions, 155--211, Clay Math. Proc., 15, Amer. Math. Soc.; MR3025391