Random Graphs and Networks: A First Course

Based on the authors' own teaching experience, this text introduces random graphs and networks, covering all the basic features before discussing the growth and structure of real-world networks. It can be used as a textbook for a one-semester course at advanced undergraduate or graduate level.

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Networks surround us, from social networks to protein–protein interaction networks within the cells of our bodies. The theory of random graphs provides a necessary framework for understanding their structure and development. This text provides an accessible introduction to this rapidly expanding subject. It covers all the basic features of random graphs – component structure, matchings and Hamilton cycles, connectivity and chromatic number – before discussing models of real-world networks, including intersection graphs, preferential attachment graphs and small-world models. Based on the authors' own teaching experience, it can be used as a textbook for a one-semester course on random graphs and networks at advanced undergraduate or graduate level. The text includes numerous exercises, with a particular focus on developing students' skills in asymptotic analysis. More challenging problems are accompanied by hints or suggestions for further reading.