We will review some of the major results in random graphs and some of the more challenging open problems. We will cover algorithmic and structural questions. We will touch on newer models, including those related to the WWW.

Random graphs

Covering the basic techniques used in the latest research work, the author consolidates progress made so far, including some very recent and promising results, and conveys the beauty and excitement of work in the field. He gives clear, lucid explanations of key results and ideas, with intuitive proofs, and provides critical examples and numerous illustrations to help elucidate the algorithms. Many of the results presented have been simplified and new insights provided. Of interest to theoretical computer scientists, operations researchers, and discrete mathematicians.

Approximation Algorithms

Complex networks arise in a wide range of biological and sociotechnical systems. Epidemic spreading is central to our understanding of dynamical processes in complex networks, and is of interest to physicists, mathematicians, epidemiologists, and computer and social scientists. This review presents the main results and paradigmatic models in infectious disease modeling and generalized social contagion processes.

Epidemic processes in complex networks

https://deim.urv.cat/~alexandre.arenas/publicacions/pdf/review.pdf

Synchronization in complex networks

This is a tutorial on some basic non-asymptotic methods and concepts in random matrix theory. The reader will learn several tools for the analysis of the extreme singular values of random matrices with independent rows or columns. Many of these methods sprung off from the development of geometric functional analysis since the 1970's. They have applications in several fields, most notably in theoretical computer science, statistics and signal processing. A few basic applications are covered in this text, particularly for the problem of estimating covariance matrices in statistics and for validating probabilistic constructions of measurement matrices in compressed sensing. These notes are written particularly for graduate students and beginning researchers in different areas, including functional analysts, probabilists, theoretical statisticians, electrical engineers, and theoretical computer scientists.

Introduction to the non-asymptotic analysis of random matrices.

In this paper, we consider the universality of the local eigenvalue statistics of random matrices. Our main result shows that these statistics are determined by the first four moments of the distribution of the entries. As a consequence, we derive the universality of eigenvalue gap distribution and k-point correlation, and many other statistics (under some mild assumptions) for both Wigner Hermitian matrices and Wigner real symmetric matrices.

/pdf/random-matrices-universality-of-local-eigenvalue-statistics-4oep9ofdf9.pdf

Random matrices: Universality of local eigenvalue statistics

In the study of the spectra of power-law graphs, there are basically two competing approaches. One is to prove analogues of Wigner's semicircle law, whereas the other predicts that the eigenvalues follow a power-law distribution. Although the semicircle law and the power law have nothing in common, we will show that both approaches are essentially correct if one considers the appropriate matrices. We will prove that (under certain mild conditions) the eigenvalues of the (normalized) Laplacian of a random power-law graph follow the semicircle law, whereas the spectrum of the adjacency matrix of a power-law graph obeys the power law. Our results are based on the analysis of random graphs with given expected degrees and their relations to several key invariants. Of interest are a number of (new) values for the exponent β, where phase transitions for eigenvalue distributions occur. The spectrum distributions have direct implications to numerous graph algorithms such as, for example, randomized algorithms that involve rapidly mixing Markov chains.

/pdf/spectra-of-random-graphs-with-given-expected-degrees-3j84g7alig.pdf

Spectra of random graphs with given expected degrees

Given an n×n complex matrix A, let $$\mu_{A}(x,y):=\frac{1}{n}|\{1\le i\le n,\operatorname{Re}\lambda_{i}\le x,\operatorname{Im}\lambda_{i}\le y\}|$$ be the empirical spectral distribution (ESD) of its eigenvalues λi∈ℂ, i=1, …, n. We consider the limiting distribution (both in probability and in the almost sure convergence sense) of the normalized ESD $\mu_{{1}/{\sqrt{n}}A_{n}}$ of a random matrix An=(aij)1≤i, j≤n, where the random variables aij−E(aij) are i.i.d. copies of a fixed random variable x with unit variance. We prove a universality principle for such ensembles, namely, that the limit distribution in question is independent of the actual choice of x. In particular, in order to compute this distribution, one can assume that x is real or complex Gaussian. As a related result, we show how laws for this ESD follow from laws for the singular value distribution of $\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}}A_{n}-zI$ for complex z. As a corollary, we establish the circular law conjecture (both almost surely and in probability), which asserts that $\mu_{{1}/{\sqrt{n}}A_{n}}$ converges to the uniform measure on the unit disc when the aij have zero mean.

/pdf/random-matrices-universality-of-esds-and-the-circular-law-2eugci1c8o.pdf

Random matrices: Universality of ESDs and the circular law

Given an $n \times n$ complex matrix $A$, let 
$$\mu_{A}(x,y):= \frac{1}{n} |\{1\le i \le n, \Re \lambda_i \le x, \Im \lambda_i \le y\}|$$ be the empirical spectral distribution (ESD) of its eigenvalues 
$\lambda_i \in \BBC, i=1, ... n$. 
We consider the limiting distribution (both in probability and in the almost sure convergence sense) of the normalized ESD $\mu_{\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}} A_n}$ of a random matrix $A_n = (a_{ij})_{1 \leq i,j \leq n}$ where the random variables $a_{ij} - \E(a_{ij})$ are iid copies of a fixed random variable $x$ with unit variance. We prove a \emph{universality principle} for such ensembles, namely that the limit distribution in question is {\it independent} of the actual choice of $x$. In particular, in order to compute this distribution, one can assume that $x$ is real of complex gaussian. As a related result, we show how laws for this ESD follow from laws for the \emph{singular} value distribution of $\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}} A_n - zI$ for complex $z$. As a corollary we establish the Circular Law conjecture (in both strong and weak forms), that asserts that $\mu_{\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}} A_n}$ converges to the uniform measure on the unit disk when the $a_{ij}$ have zero mean.

This is a continuation of our earlier paper (Tao and Vu, http://arxiv.org/abs/0908.1982v4[math.PR], 2010) on the universality of the eigenvalues of Wigner random matrices. The main new results of this paper are an extension of the results in Tao and Vu (http://arxiv.org/abs/0908.1982v4[math.PR], 2010) from the bulk of the spectrum up to the edge. In particular, we prove a variant of the universality results of Soshnikov (Commun Math Phys 207(3):697–733, 1999) for the largest eigenvalues, assuming moment conditions rather than symmetry conditions. The main new technical observation is that there is a significant bias in the Cauchy interlacing law near the edge of the spectrum which allows one to continue ensuring the delocalization of eigenvectors.

/pdf/random-matrices-universality-of-local-eigenvalue-statistics-1mqdmz6nbm.pdf

Van Vu

Papers

Random matrices: Universality of local eigenvalue statistics

Spectra of random graphs with given expected degrees

Random matrices: Universality of ESDs and the circular law

Random matrices: Universality of ESDs and the circular law

Random Matrices: Universality of Local Eigenvalue Statistics up to the Edge