Delocalization transition for critical Erdős-Rényi graphs

Abstract: We analyse the eigenvectors of the adjacency matrix of a critical Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi graph $\mathbb G(N,d/N)$, where $d$ is of order $\log N$. We show that its spectrum splits into two phases: a delocalized phase in the middle of the spectrum, where the eigenvectors are completely delocalized, and a semilocalized phase near the edges of the spectrum, where the eigenvectors are essentially localized on a small number of vertices. In the semilocalized phase the mass of an eigenvector is concentrated in a small number of disjoint balls centred around resonant vertices, in each of which it is a radial exponentially decaying function. The transition between the phases is sharp and is manifested in a discontinuity in the localization exponent $\gamma(\mathbf w)$ of an eigenvector $\mathbf w$, defined through $|\mathbf w|_\infty / |\mathbf w|_2 = N^{-\gamma(\mathbf w)}$. Our results remain valid throughout the optimal regime $\sqrt{\log N} \ll d \leq O(\log N)$.