Models of random subtrees of a graph

Abstract

Consider a connected graph $G=(E,V)$ with $N=|V|$ vertices. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the question of uniform sampling of a subtree of $G$ with $n$ nodes, for some $n\leq N$ (the spanning tree case correspond to $n=N$, and is already deeply studied in the literature). We provide new asymptotically exact simulation methods using Markov chains for general connected graphs $G$, and any $n\leq N$. We highlight the case of the uniform subtree of $\mathbb{Z}^2$ with $n$ nodes, containing the origin $(0,0)$ for which Schramm asked several questions. We produce pictures, statistics, and some conjectures. A second aim of the paper is devoted to surveying other models of random subtrees of a graph, among them, DLA models, the first passage percolation, the uniform spanning tree and the minimum spanning tree. We also provide new models, some statistics, and some conjectures.