Emergence of the circle in a statistical model of random cubic graphs

Abstract

Abstract We consider a formal discretisation of Euclidean quantum gravity defined by a statistical model of random 3-regular graphs and making using of the Ollivier curvature, a coarse analogue of the Ricci curvature. Numerical analysis shows that the Hausdorff and spectral dimensions of the model approach 1 in the joint classical-thermodynamic limit and we argue that the scaling limit of the model is the circle of radius r, S r 1 . Given mild kinematic constraints, these claims can be proven with full mathematical rigour: speaking precisely, it may be shown that for 3-regular graphs of girth at least 4, any sequence of action minimising configurations converges in the sense of Gromov–Hausdorff to S r 1 . We also present strong evidence for the existence of a second-order phase transition through an analysis of finite size effects. This—essentially solvable—toy model of emergent one-dimensional geometry is meant as a controllable paradigm for the nonperturbative definition of random flat surfaces.