On the Dimension and Euler characteristic of random graphs

Abstract

The inductive dimension dim(G) of a finite undirected graph G=(V,E) is a rational number defined inductively as 1 plus the arithmetic mean of the dimensions of the unit spheres dim(S(x)) at vertices x primed by the requirement that the empty graph has dimension -1. We look at the distribution of the random variable "dim" on the Erdos-Renyi probability space G(n,p), where each of the n(n-1)/2 edges appears independently with probability p. We show here that the average dimension E[dim] is a computable polynomial of degree n(n-1)/2 in p. The explicit formulas allow experimentally to explore limiting laws for the dimension of large graphs. We also study the expectation E[X] of the Euler characteristic X, considered as a random variable on G(n,p). We look experimentally at the statistics of curvature K(v) and local dimension dim(v) = 1+dim(S(v)) which satisfy the Gauss-Bonnet formula X(G) = sum K(v) and by definition dim(G) = sum dim(v)/|V|. We also look at the signature functions f(p)=E[dim], g(p)=E[X] and matrix values functions A(p) = Cov[{dim(v),dim(w)], B(p) = Cov[K(v),K(w)] on the probability space G(p) of all subgraphs of a host graph G=(V,E) with the same vertex set V, where each edge is turned on with probability p. If G is the complete graph or a union of cyclic graphs with have explicit formulas for the signature polynomials f and g.