A polynomial-time approximation scheme for the maximal overlap of two independent Erdős-Rényi graphs

Abstract: For two independent Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi graphs $\mathbf G(n,p)$, we study the maximal overlap (i.e., the number of common edges) of these two graphs over all possible vertex correspondence. We present a polynomial-time algorithm which finds a vertex correspondence whose overlap approximates the maximal overlap up to a multiplicative factor that is arbitrarily close to 1. As a by-product, we prove that the maximal overlap is asymptotically $\frac{n}{2\alpha-1}$ for $p=n^{-\alpha}$ with some constant $\alpha\in (1/2,1)$.