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We study the potentially undecidable problem of whether a given 2-dimensional CW complex can be embedded into $\mathbb{R}^4$. We provide operations that preserve embeddability, including joining and cloning of 2-cells, as well as $\Delta\mathrm Y$-transformations. We also construct a CW complex for which $\mathrm Y\Delta$-transformations do not preserve embeddability. We use these results to study 4-flat graphs, i.e., graphs that embed in $\mathbb{R}^4$ after attaching any number of 2-cells to their cycles; a graph class that naturally generalizes planarity and linklessness. We verify several conjectures of van der Holst; in particular, we prove that each of the 78 graphs of the Heawood family is an excluded minor for the class of 4-flat graphs.

We introduce notions of dimension of an infinite group, or more generally, a metric space, defined using percolation. Roughly speaking, the percolation dimension $pdim(G)$ of a group $G$ is the fastest rate of decay of a symmetric probability measure $\mu$ on $G$, such that Bernoulli percolation on $G$ with connection probabilities proportional to $\mu$ behaves like a Poisson branching process with parameter 1 in a sense made precise below. We show that $pdim(G)$ has several natural properties: it is monotone decreasing with respect to subgroups and quotients, and coincides with the growth rate exponent for several classes of groups.

Halin's well-known grid theorem states that a graph $G$ with a thick end must contain a subdivision of the hexagonal half-grid. We obtain the following strengthening when $G$ is vertex-transitive and locally finite. Either $G$ is quasi-isometric to a tree (and therefore has no thick end), or it contains a subdivision of the full hexagonal grid., Comment: 12 pages

Mohar recently adapted the classical game of Cops and Robber from graphs to metric spaces, thereby unifying previously studied pursuit-evasion games. He conjectured that finitely many cops can win on any compact geodesic metric space, and that their number can be upper-bounded in terms of the ranks of the homology groups when the space is a simplicial pseudo-manifold. We disprove these conjectures by constructing a metric on $\mathbb{S}^3$ with infinite cop number. More problems are raised than settled.

We present problems and results that combine graph-minors and coarse geometry. For example, we ask whether every geodesic metric space (or graph) without a fat $H$ minor is quasi-isometric to a graph with no $H$ minor, for an arbitrary finite graph $H$. We answer this affirmatively for a few small $H$. We also present a metric analogue of Menger's theorem and Konig's ray theorem. We conjecture metric analogues of the Erdos--Posa Theorem and Halin's grid theorem.

We prove that every recurrent graph $G$ quasi-isometric to $\mathbb{R}$ admits an essentially unique Lipschitz harmonic function $h$. If $G$ is vertex-transitive, then the action of $Aut(G)$ preserves $\partial h$ up to a sign, a fact that we exploit to prove various combinatorial results about $G$. As a consequence, we prove the 2-ended case of the conjecture of Grimmett & Li that the connective constant of a non-degenerate vertex-transitive graph is at least the golden mean. Moreover, answering a question of Watkins from 1990, we construct a cubic, 2-ended, vertex-transitive graph which is not a Cayley graph.

We determine the excluded minors characterising the class of countable graphs that embed into some compact surface.

A graph $U$ is universal for a graph class $\mathcal{C}\ni U$, if every $G\in \mathcal{C}$ is a minor of $U$. We prove the existence or absence of universal graphs in several natural graph classes, including graphs component-wise embeddable into a surface, and graphs forbidding $K_5$, or $K_{3,3}$, or $K_\infty$ as a minor. We prove the existence of uncountably many minor-closed classes of countable graphs that (do and) do not have a universal element. Some of our results and questions may be of interest to the finite graph theorist. In particular, one of our side-results is that every $K_5$-minor-free graph is a minor of a $K_5$-minor-free graph of maximum degree 22.

We prove that any two countable, compact, subsets of $\mathbb{S}^n, n\geq 2$ that are homeomorphic also have homeomorphic complements. Thus any wild subspace like the classical construction of Antoine must contain a Cantor set.

We prove that a group $\Gamma$ admits a discrete topological (equivalently, smooth) action on some simply-connected 3-manifold if and only if $\Gamma$ has a Cayley complex embeddable -- with certain natural restrictions -- in one of the following four 3-manifolds: (i) $\mathbb{S}^3$, (ii) $\mathbb{R}^3$, (iii) $\mathbb{S}^2 \times \mathbb{R}$, (iv) the complement of a tame Cantor set in $\mathbb{S}^3$.

A well-known theorem of Whitney states that a 3-connected planar graph admits an essentially unique embedding into the 2-sphere. We prove a 3-dimensional analogue: a simply-connected $2$-complex every link graph of which is 3-connected admits an essentially unique locally flat embedding into the 3-sphere, if it admits one at all. This can be thought of as a generalisation of the 3-dimensional Schoenflies theorem.

We introduce a method for translating any upper bound on the percolation threshold of a lattice $G$ into a lower bound on the exponential growth rate $a(G)$ of lattice animals and vice-versa. We exploit this in both directions. We improve on the best known asymptotic lower and upper bounds on $a(\mathbb{Z}^d)$ as $d\to \infty$. We use percolation as a tool to obtain the latter, and conversely we use the former to obtain lower bounds on $p_c(\mathbb{Z}^d)$. We obtain the rigorous lower bound $\dot{p}_c(\mathbb{Z}^3)>0.2522$ for 3-dimensional site percolation.

It is known that for every $\alpha \geq 1$ there is a planar triangulation in which every ball of radius $r$ has size $\Theta(r^\alpha)$. We prove that for $\alpha <2$ every such triangulation is quasi-isometric to a tree. The result extends to Riemannian 2-manifolds of finite genus, and to large-scale-simply-connected graphs. We also prove that every planar triangulation of asymptotic dimension 1 is quasi-isometric to a tree., Comment: Revised version submitted to Annales Henri Lebesgue

We generalise the standard constructions of a Cayley graph in terms of a group presentation by allowing some vertices to obey different relators than others. The resulting notion of presentation allows us to represent every vertex transitive graph. As an intermediate step, we prove that every countably infinite, connected, vertex transitive graph has a perfect matching. Incidentally, we construct an example of a 2-ended cubic vertex transitive graph which is not a Cayley graph, answering a question of Watkins from 1990., Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, main authors: Agelos Georgakopoulos and Alex Wendland, appendix by: Matthias Hamann and Alex Wendland

We prove that for Bernoulli bond percolation on $\mathbb{Z}^d$, $d\geq 2$ the percolation density is an analytic function of the parameter in the supercritical interval $(p_c,1]$. This answers a question of Kesten from 1981., Comment: Appearing in Memoirs of the AMS as part of arxiv:1811.07404

We introduce a process where a connected rooted multigraph evolves by splitting events on its vertices, occurring randomly in continuous time. When a vertex splits, its incoming edges are randomly assigned between its offspring and a Poisson random number of edges are added between them. The process is parametrised by a positive real $\lambda$ which governs the limiting average degree. We show that for each value of $\lambda$ there is a unique random connected rooted multigraph $M(\lambda)$ invariant under this evolution. As a consequence, starting from any finite graph $G$ the process will almost surely converge in distribution to $M(\lambda)$, which does not depend on $G$. We show that this limit has finite expected size. The same process naturally extends to one in which connectedness is not necessarily preserved, and we give a sharp threshold for connectedness of this version. This is an asynchronous version, which is more realistic from the real-world network point of view, of a process we studied in arXiv:1506.02697, arXiv:1703.09011., Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure

We apply the power-of-two-choices paradigm to a random walk on a graph: rather than moving to a uniform random neighbour at each step, a controller is allowed to choose from two independent uniform random neighbours. We prove that this allows the controller to significantly accelerate the hitting and cover times in several natural graph classes. In particular, we show that the cover time becomes linear in the number $n$ of vertices on discrete tori and bounded degree trees, of order $\mathcal{O}(n \log \log n)$ on bounded degree expanders, and of order $\mathcal{O}(n (\log \log n)^2)$ on the Erd\H{o}s-R\'{e}nyi random graph in a certain sparsely connected regime. We also consider the algorithmic question of computing an optimal strategy, and prove a dichotomy in efficiency between computing strategies for hitting and cover times., Comment: 28 Pages, 2 Figures

A well-known theorem of Rodin \& Sullivan, previously conjectured by Thurston, states that the circle packing of the intersection of a lattice with a simply connected planar domain $\Omega$ into the unit disc $\mathbb{D}$ converges to a Riemann map from $\Omega$ to $\mathbb{D}$ when the mesh size converges to 0. We prove the analogous statement when circle packings are replaced by the square tilings of Brooks et al.

We introduce a formula for translating any upper bound on the percolation threshold of a lattice \g into a lower bound on the exponential growth rate of lattice animals $a(G)$ and vice-versa. We exploit this to improve on the best known asymptotic bounds on $a(\mathbb{Z}^d)$ as $d\to \infty$. Our formula remains valid if instead of lattice animals we enumerate certain sub-species called interfaces. Enumerating interfaces leads to functional duality formulas that are tightly connected to percolation and are not valid for lattice animals, as well as to strict inequalities for the percolation threshold. Incidentally, we prove that the rate of the exponential decay of the cluster size distribution of Bernoulli percolation is a continuous function of $p\in (0,1)$., Comment: 38 pages

Let $G$ be a finitely generated group acting faithfully and properly discontinuously by homeomorphisms on a planar surface $X \subseteq \mathbb{S}^2$. We prove that $G$ admits such an action that is in addition co-compact, provided we can replace $X$ by another surface $Y \subseteq \mathbb{S}^2$. We also prove that if a group $H$ has a finitely generated Cayley (multi-)graph $C$ covariantly embeddable in $\mathbb{S}^2$, then $C$ can be chosen so as to have no infinite path on the boundary of a face. The proofs of these facts are intertwined, and the classes of groups they define coincide. In the orientation-preserving case they are exactly the (isomorphism types of) finitely generated Kleinian function groups. We construct a finitely generated planar Cayley graph whose group is not in this class. In passing, we observe that the Freudenthal compactification of every planar surface is homeomorphic to the sphere.

We show that a group admits a planar, finitely generated Cayley graph if and only if it admits a special kind of group presentation we introduce, called a planar presentation. Planar presentations can be recognised algorithmically. As a consequence, we obtain an effective enumeration of the planar Cayley graphs, yielding in particular an affirmative answer to a question of Droms et al. asking whether the planar groups can be effectively enumerated., Comment: We split arXiv:1506.03361v2 into two parts. This is the second part

We prove that for Bernoulli percolation on $\mathbb{Z}^d$, $d\geq 2$, the percolation density is an analytic function of the parameter in the supercritical interval. For this we introduce some techniques that have further implications. In particular, we prove that the susceptibility is analytic in the subcritical interval for all transitive short- or long-range models, and that $p_c^{bond} <1/2$ for certain families of triangulations for which Benjamini \& Schramm conjectured that $p_c^{site} \leq 1/2$., Comment: Subsumes arxiv:2001.09178. Appearing in Memoirs of the AMS

A well-known result of Benjamini, Lyons, Peres, and Schramm states that if $G$ is a finitely generated Cayley graph of a group $\Gamma$, then $\Gamma$ is amenable if and only if $G$ admits a $\Gamma$-invariant random spanning tree with at most two ends. We show that this is equivalent to the existence of a $\Gamma$-invariant random spanning double ray in a power of $G$.

We prove a topological extension of Dirac's theorem suggested by Gowers in 2005: for any connected, closed surface $\mathscr{S}$, we show that any two-dimensional simplicial complex on $n$ vertices in which each pair of vertices belongs to at least $n/3 + o(n)$ facets contains a homeomorph of $\mathscr{S}$ spanning all the vertices. This result is asymptotically sharp, and implies in particular that any 3-uniform hypergraph on $n$ vertices with minimum codegree exceeding $n/3+o(n)$ contains a spanning triangulation of the $2$-sphere., Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures

Any $n$-vertex $3$-graph with minimum codegree at least $\lfloor n/3\rfloor$ must have a spanning tight component, but immediately below this threshold it is possible for no tight component to span more than $\lceil 2n/3\rceil$ vertices. Motivated by this observation, we ask which codegree forces a tight component of at least any given size. The corresponding function seems to have infinitely many discontinuities, but we provide upper and lower bounds, which asymptotically converge as the function nears the origin., Comment: 10 pages. Final version accepted by European J. Combin

We give an example of a long range Bernoulli percolation process on a group non-quasi-isometric with $\mathbb{Z}$, in which clusters are almost surely finite for all values of the parameter. This random graph admits diverse equivalent definitions, and we study their ramifications. We also study its expected size and point out certain phase transitions., Comment: 23 pages

We construct minor-closed addable families of graphs that are subcritical and contain all planar graphs. This contradicts (one direction of) a well-known conjecture of Noy.

We provide an algorithm with constant running time that given a weighted tournament $T$, distinguishes with high probability of success between the cases that $T$ can be represented by a Bradley--Terry model, or cannot even be approximated by one. The same algorithm tests whether the corresponding Markov chain is reversible.

We study equilibrium configurations of infinitely many identical particles on the real line or finitely many particles on the circle, such that the (repelling) force they exert on each other depends only on their distance. The main question is whether each equilibrium configuration needs to be an arithmetic progression. Under very broad assumptions on the force we show this for the particles on the circle. In the case of infinitely many particles on the line we show the same result under the assumption that the maximal (or the minimal) gap between successive points is finite (positive) and assumed at some pair of successive points. Under the assumption of analyticity for the force field (e.g., the Coulomb force) we deduce some extra rigidity for the configuration: knowing an equilibrium configuration of points in a half-line determines it throughout. Various properties of the equlibrium configuration are proved.

We construct a transient bounded-degree graph no transient subgraph of which embeds in any surface of finite genus. Moreover, we construct a transient, Liouville, bounded-degree, Gromov--hyperbolic graph with trivial hyperbolic boundary that has no transient subtree. This answers a question of Benjamini. This graph also yields a (further) counterexample to a conjecture of Benjamini and Schramm.

We prove local convergence results for the uniformly random, labelled or unlabelled, graphs from subcritical families. As an example special case, we prove Benjamini-Schramm convergence for the uniform random unlabelled tree. We introduce a compactification of the space of countable (connected) rooted graphs, and use it to generalise the notion of Benjamini-Schramm convergence in order to allow for vertices of infinite degree in the limit object.

The aim of this paper is to clarify the relationship between Gromov-hyperbolicity and amenability for planar maps.

We obtain an effective enumeration of the family of finitely generated groups admitting a faithful, properly discontinuous action on some 2-manifold contained in the sphere. This is achieved by introducing a type of group presentation capturing exactly these groups. Extending this in a companion paper, we find group presentations capturing the planar finitely generated Cayley graphs. Thus we obtain an effective enumeration of these Cayley graphs, yielding in particular an affirmative answer to a question of Droms et al., Comment: To appear in Combinatorica. The second half of the previous version is arXiv:1901.00347

We introduce a construction that gives rise to a variety of "geometric" finite random graphs, and describe connections to the Poisson boundary, Naim's kernel, and Sznitman's random interlacements.

We prove that every vertex transitive, planar, 1-ended, graph covers every graph whose balls of radius r are isomorphic to the ball of radius r in G for a sufficiently large r. We ask whether this is a general property of finitely presented Cayley graphs, as well as further related questions.

We introduce a strengthening of the notion of transience for planar maps in order to relax the standard condition of bounded degree appearing in various results, in particular, the existence of Dirichlet harmonic functions proved by Benjamini and Schramm. As a corollary we obtain that every planar non-amenable graph admits Dirichlet harmonic functions.

We construct Brownian motion on a wide class of metric spaces similar to graphs, and show that its cover time admits an upper bound depending only on the length of the space.

We extend the notion of effective resistance to metric spaces that are similar to graphs but can also be similar to fractals. Combined with other basic facts proved in the paper, this lays the ground for a construction of Brownian Motion on such spaces completed in [10].

We consider weighted graphs with an infinite set of vertices. We show that boundedness of all functions of finite energy can be seen as a notion of `relative compactness' for such graphs and study sufficient and necessary conditions for this property in terms of various metrics. We then equip graphs satisfying this property with a finite measure and investigate the associated Laplacian and its semigroup. In this context, our results include the trace class property for the semigroup, uniqueness and existence of solutions to the Dirichlet problem with boundary arising from the natural compactification, an explicit description of the domain of the Dirichlet Laplacian, convergence of the heat semigroup for large times as well as stochastic incompleteness and transience of the corresponding random walk in continuous time.

We exhibit a close connection between hitting times of the simple random walk on a graph, the Wiener index, and related graph invariants. In the case of trees we obtain a simple identity relating hitting times to the Wiener index. It is well known that the vertices of any graph can be put in a linear preorder so that vertices appearing earlier in the preorder are "easier to reach" by a random walk, but "more difficult to get out of". We define various other natural preorders and study their relationships. These preorders coincide when the graph is a tree, but not necessarily otherwise. Our treatise is self-contained, and puts some known results relating the behaviour or random walk on a graph to its eigenvalues in a new perspective., Comment: To appear in JGT

Answering a question of Benjamini & Schramm [8], we show that the Poisson boundary of any planar, uniquely absorbing (e.g. one-ended and transient) graph with bounded degrees can be realised geometrically as a circle, namely as the boundary of a tiling of a cylinder by squares. This implies a conjecture of Northshield [34] of similar flavour. For our proof we introduce a general criterion for identifying the Poisson boundary of a stochastic process that might have further applications., Comment: Section 8 added in version 2

Aldous [1] asked whether every graph in which the distribution of the return time of random is independent of the starting vertex must be transitive. We remark that this question can be reduced into a purely graph-theoretic one that had already been answered Godsil & McKay [6] and ask some questions motivated by this.

In this note we prove the conjecture of \cite{HaWiWi} that every bipartite multigraph with integer edge delays admits an edge colouring with $d+1$ colours in the special case where $d=3$. A connection to the Brualdi-Ryser-Stein conjecture is discussed., Comment: Published by the Electronic Journal of Combinatorics

We introduce a variant of the cover time of a graph, called cover cost, in which the cost of a step is proportional to the number of yet uncovered vertices. It turns out that cover cost is more tractable than cover time; we provide an $O(n^4)$ algorithm for its computation, as well as some explicit formulae. The two values are not very far from each other, and so cover cost might be a useful tool in the study of cover time.

It is shown that if a planar graph admits no non-constant bounded harmonic functions then the trajectories of two independent simple random walks intersect almost surely., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure

We solve the game of Babylon when played with chips of two colors, giving a winning strategy for the second player in all previously unsolved cases.

We show that the expected time for a random walk on a (multi-)graph $G$ to traverse all $m$ edges of $G$, and return to its starting point, is at most $2m^2$; if each edge must be traversed in both directions, the bound is $3m^2$. Both bounds are tight and may be applied to graphs with arbitrary edge lengths, with implications for Brownian motion on a finite or infinite network of total edge-length $m$.

We show that there is no 1-ended, planar, hyperbolic graph such that the stabilizer of one of its hyperbolic boundary points acts transitively on the vertices of the graph. This gives a partial answer to a question by Kaimanovich and Woess., Comment: 9 pages

We obtain a complete description of the planar cubic Cayley graphs, providing an explicit presentation and embedding for each of them. This turns out to be a rich class, comprising several infinite families. We obtain counterexamples to conjectures of Mohar, Bonnington and Watkins. Our analysis makes the involved graphs accessible to computation, corroborating a conjecture of Droms.