Emergence of the Circle in a Statistical Model of Random Cubic Graphs

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 $r$, $S^1_r$. 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 $S^1_r$. 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.