Emergence of Long-Range Correlations in Random Networks

We perform an analytical analysis of the long-range degree correlation of the giant component in an uncorrelated random network by employing generating functions. By introducing a characteristic length, we find that a pair of nodes in the giant component is negatively degree-correlated within the characteristic length and uncorrelated otherwise. At the critical point, where the giant component becomes fractal, the characteristic length diverges and the negative long-range degree correlation emerges. We further propose a correlation function for degrees of the $l$-distant node pairs, which behaves as an exponentially decreasing function of distance in the off-critical region. The correlation function obeys a power-law with an exponential cutoff near the critical point. The Erdős-Renyi random graph is employed to confirm this critical behavior.