Constraining the clustering transition for colorings of sparse random graphs

Abstract

Let $\Omega_q$ denote the set of proper $q$-colorings of the random graph $G_{n,m}, m=dn/2$ and let $H_q$ be the graph with vertex set $\Omega_q$ and an edge $\{\sigma,\tau\}$ where $\sigma,\tau$ are mappings $[n]\to[q]$ iff $h(\sigma,\tau)=1$. Here $h(\sigma,\tau)$ is the Hamming distance $|\{v\in [n]:\sigma(v)\neq\tau(v)\}|$. We show that w.h.p. $H_q$ contains a single giant component containing almost all colorings in $\Omega_q$ if $d$ is sufficiently large and $q\geq \frac{cd}{\log d}$ for a constant $c>3/2$.