Equilibrium statistical mechanics on correlated random graphs

Biological and social networks have recently attracted great attention from physicists. Among several aspects, two main ones may be stressed: a non-trivial topology of the graph describing the mutual interactions between agents and, typically, imitative, weighted, interactions. Despite such aspects being widely accepted and empirically confirmed, the schemes currently exploited in order to generate the expected topology are based on a priori assumptions and, in most cases, implement constant intensities for links. Here we propose a simple shift [-1, + 1] -> [0, + 1] in the definition of patterns in a Hopfield model: a straightforward effect is the conversion of frustration into dilution. In fact, we show that by varying the bias of pattern distribution, the network topology (generated by the reciprocal affinities among agents, i.e. the Hebbian rule) crosses various well-known regimes, ranging from fully connected, to an extreme dilution scenario, then to completely disconnected. These features, as well as small-world properties, are, in this context, emergent and no longer imposed a priori. The model is throughout investigated also from a thermodynamics perspective: the Ising model defined on the resulting graph is analytically solved (at a replica symmetric level) by extending the double stochastic stability technique, and presented together with its fluctuation theory for a picture of criticality. Overall, our findings show that, at least at equilibrium, dilution (of whatever kind) simply decreases the strength of the coupling felt by the spins, but leaves the paramagnetic/ferromagnetic flavors unchanged. The main difference with respect to previous investigations is that, within our approach, replicas do not appear: instead of (multi)-overlaps as order parameters, we introduce a class of magnetizations on all the possible subgraphs belonging to the main one investigated: as a consequence, for these objects a closure for a self-consistent relation is achieved.