Chemically inspired Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi oriented hypergraphs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new Erdős-Rényi model for oriented hypergraphs, which are high-order structures suitable for modeling complex systems like chemical reactions, and explores their properties and applications.

Contribution

It develops the first Erdős-Rényi model for oriented hypergraphs, extending random graph theory to high-order, directed relationships relevant in chemistry and complex systems.

Findings

Expected ratio of hyperedges to degree approaches 3/2 for large vertex sets

Oriented hypergraphs effectively model large chemical reaction networks

Random oriented hypergraphs provide insights into chemical system dynamics

Abstract

High-order structures have been recognised as suitable models for systems going beyond the binary relationships for which graph models are appropriate. Despite their importance and surge in research on these structures, their random cases have been only recently become subjects of interest. One of these high-order structures is the oriented hypergraph, which relates couples of subsets of an arbitrary number of vertices. Here we develop the Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi model for oriented hypergraphs, which corresponds to the random realisation of oriented hyperedges of the complete oriented hypergraph. A particular feature of random oriented hypergraphs is that the ratio between their expected number of oriented hyperedges and their expected degree or size is 3/2 for large number of vertices. We highlight the suitability of oriented hypergraphs for modelling large collections of chemical reactions and the importance of random oriented hypergraphs to analyse the unfolding of chemistry.