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  • Open Access

Renormalization of interacting random graph models

Alessio Catanzaro1,2,3,*, Diego Garlaschelli1,2,†, and Subodh P. Patil1,‡

  • *Contact author: catanzaro@lorentz.leidenuniv.nl
  • †Contact author: garlaschelli@lorentz.leidenuniv.it
  • ‡Contact author: patil@lorentz.leidenuniv.nl
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Phys. Rev. E 113, 024314 – Published 27 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/34n8-pw8x

Abstract

Random graphs offer a useful mathematical representation of a variety of real-world complex networks. Exponential random graphs, for example, are particularly suited towards generating random graphs constrained to have specified statistical moments. In this investigation we elaborate on a generalization of the former where link probabilities are conditioned on the appearance of other links, corresponding to the introduction of interactions in an effective generalized statistical mechanical formalism. When restricted to the simplest nontrivial case of pairwise interactions, one can derive a closed form renormalization group transformation for maximum coordination number two on the corresponding line graph. Higher coordination numbers do not admit exact closed form renormalization group transformations, a feature that paraphrases the usual absence of exact transformations in two or more dimensional lattice systems. We introduce disorder and study the induced renormalization group flow on its probability assignments, highlighting its formal equivalence to time reversed anisotropic drift diffusion on the statistical manifold associated with the effective Hamiltonian. We discuss the implications of our findings, stressing the long wavelength irrelevance of certain classes of pairwise conditioning on random graphs, and conclude with possible applications. These include modeling the scaling behavior of preferential effects on social networks, opinion dynamics, and reinforcement effects on neural networks, as well as how our findings offer a systematic framework to deal with data limitations in inference and reconstruction problems.

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Phys. Rev. E 113, 024314– Published 27 February, 2026
  • Received 30 October 2025
  • Accepted 5 February 2026
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