Critical Percolation on Random Networks with Prescribed Degrees

Abstract

Random graphs have played an instrumental role in modelling real-world networks arising from the internet topology, social networks, or even protein-interaction networks within cells. Percolation, on the other hand, has been the fundamental model for understanding robustness and spread of epidemics on these networks. From a mathematical perspective, percolation is one of the simplest models that exhibits phase transition, and fascinating features are observed around the critical point. In this thesis, we prove limit theorems about structural properties of the connected components obtained from percolation on random graphs at criticality. The results are obtained for random graphs with general degree sequence, and we identify different universality classes for the critical behavior based on moment assumptions on the degree distribution.