Level sets percolation on chaotic graphs

One of the most surprising discoveries in quantum chaos was that nodal domains of eigenfunctions of quantum-chaotic billiards and maps in the semi-classical limit display critical percolation. Here we extend these studies to the level sets of the adjacency eigenvectors of d-regular graphs. Numerical computations show that the statistics of the largest level sets (the maximal connected components of the graph for which the eigenvector exceeds a prescribed value) depend critically on the level. The critical level is a function of the eigenvalue and the degree d. To explain the observed behavior we study a random Gaussian waves ensemble over the d-regular tree. For this model, we prove the existence of a critical threshold. Using the local tree property of d-regular graphs, and assuming the (local) applicability of the random waves model, we can compute the critical percolation level and reproduce the numerical simulations. These results support the random-waves model for random regular graphs and provides an extension to Bogomolny's percolation model for two-dimensional chaotic billiards.