Top Eigenpair Statistics for Weighted Sparse Graphs

We develop a formalism to compute the statistics of the top eigenpair of weighted sparse graphs with finite mean connectivity and bounded maximal degree. Framing the problem in terms of optimisation of a quadratic form on the sphere and introducing a fictitious temperature, we employ the cavity and replica methods to find the solution in terms of self-consistent equations for auxiliary probability density functions, which can be solved by population dynamics. This derivation allows us to identify and unpack the individual contributions to the top eigenvector's components coming from nodes of degree $k$. The analytical results are in perfect agreement with numerical diagonalisation of large (weighted) adjacency matrices, and are further cross-checked on the cases of random regular graphs and sparse Markov transition matrices for unbiased random walks.
Comment: 47 pages, 7 figures. Revised version, accepted for publication in J. Phys. A