Abstract
We consider a dynamic Erdős–Rényi random graph on n vertices in which each edge switches on at rate λ and switches off at rate μ, independently of other edges. The focus is on the analysis of the evolution of the associated empirical graphon in the limit as . Our main result is a large deviation principle (LDP) for the sample path of the empirical graphon observed until a fixed time horizon. The rate is , the rate function is a specific action integral on the space of graphon trajectories. We apply the LDP to identify (i) the most likely path that starting from a constant graphon creates a graphon with an atypically large density of d-regular subgraphs, and (ii) the mostly likely path between two given graphons. It turns out that bifurcations may occur in the solutions of associated variational problems.
Funding Statement
The work in this paper was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) through Gravitation-grant NETWORKS-024.002.003.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to two anonymous referees whose comments helped to improve the paper.
Citation
Peter Braunsteins. Frank den Hollander. Michel Mandjes. "A sample-path large deviation principle for dynamic Erdős–Rényi random graphs." Ann. Appl. Probab. 33 (4) 3278 - 3320, August 2023. https://doi.org/10.1214/22-AAP1892
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