In this chapter we investigate the connectivity structure of preferential attachment models. We start by discussing an important tool: exchangeable random variables and their distribution described in de Finetti’s Theorem. We apply these results to Pólya urn schemes, which, in turn, we use to describe the distribution of the degrees in preferential attachment models. It turns out that Pólya urn schemes can also be used to describe the local limit of preferential attachment models. A crucial ingredient is the fact that the edges in the Pólya urn representation are conditionally independent, given the appropriate randomness. The resulting local limit is the Pólya point tree, a specific multi-type branching process with continuous types.

In this chapter we draw motivation from real-world networks and formulate random graph models for them. We focus on some of the models that have received the most attention in the literature, namely, Erdos–Rényi random graphs, inhomogeneous random graphs, configuration models, and preferential attachment models. We follow Volume 1, both for the motivation as well as for the introduction of the random graph models involved. Furthermore, we add some convenient additional results, such as degree-truncation for configuration models and switching techniques for uniform random graphs with prescribed degrees. We also discuss preliminaries used in the book, for example concerning power-law distributions.

In this chapter we discuss local convergence, which describes the intuitive notion that a finite graph, seen from the perspective of a typical vertex, looks like a certain limiting graph. Local convergence plays a profound role in random graph theory. We give general definitions of local convergence in several probabilistic senses. We then show that local convergence in its various forms is equivalent to the appropriate convergence of subgraph counts. We continue by discussing several implications of local convergence, concerning local neighborhoods, clustering, assortativity, and PageRank. We further investigate the relation between local convergence and the size of the giant, making the statement that the giant is “almost local” precise.

In this chapter we investigate the local limit of the configuration model, we identify when it has a giant component and find its size and degree structure. We give two proofs, one based on a “the giant is almost local” argument, and another based on a continuous-time exploration of the connected components in the configuration model. Further results include its connectivity transition.

In this chapter we introduce the general setting of inhomogeneous random graphs that are generalizations of the Erdos–Rényi and generalized random graphs. In inhomogeneous random graphs, the status of edges is independent with unequal edge-occupation probabilities. While these edge probabilities are moderated by vertex weights in generalized random graphs, in the general setting they are described in terms of a kernel. The main results in this chapter concern the degree structure, the multi-type branching process local limits, and the phase transition in these inhomogeneous random graphs. We also discuss various examples, and indicate that they can have rather different structure.

In this chapter we discuss some related random graph models that have been studied in the literature. We explain their relevance, as well as some of the properties in them. We discuss directed random graphs, random graphs with local and global community structures, as well as spatial random graphs.