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Abstract We study the volume growth of metric balls as a function of the radius in discrete spaces and focus on the relationship between volume growth and discrete curvature. We improve volume growth bounds under a lower bound on the so-called Ollivier curvature and discuss similar results under other types of discrete Ricci curvature. Following recent work in the continuous setting of Riemannian manifolds (by the 1st author), we then bound the eigenvalues of the Laplacian of a graph under bounds on the volume growth. In particular, $$\lambda _2$$ of the graph can be bounded using a weighted discrete Hardy inequality and the higher eigenvalues of the graph can be bounded by the eigenvalues of a tridiagonal matrix times a multiplicative factor, both of which only depend on the volume growth of the graph. As a direct application, we relate the eigenvalues to the Cheeger isoperimetric constant. Using these methods, we describe classes of graphs for which the Cheeger inequality is tight on the 2nd eigenvalue (i.e. the 1st nonzero eigenvalue). We also describe a method for proving Buser’s Inequality in graphs, particularly under a lower bound assumption on curvature.
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Ollivier Curvature of Random Geometric Graphs Converges to Ricci Curvature of Their Riemannian Manifolds
Abstract Curvature is a fundamental geometric characteristic of smooth spaces. In recent years different notions of curvature have been developed for combinatorial discrete objects such as graphs. However, the connections between such discrete notions of curvature and their smooth counterparts remain lurking and moot. In particular, it is not rigorously known if any notion of graph curvature converges to any traditional notion of curvature of smooth space. Here we prove that in proper settings the Ollivier–Ricci curvature of random geometric graphs in Riemannian manifolds converges to the Ricci curvature of the manifold. This is the first rigorous result linking curvature of random graphs to curvature of smooth spaces. Our results hold for different notions of graph distances, including the rescaled shortest path distance, and for different graph densities. Here the scaling of the average degree, as a function of the graph size, can range from nearly logarithmic to nearly linear.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1741355
- PAR ID:
- 10426373
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Science + Business Media
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Discrete & Computational Geometry
- Volume:
- 70
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0179-5376
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 671-712
- Size(s):
- p. 671-712
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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