Largest nearest-neighbour link and connectivity threshold in a polytopal random sample

Abstract

Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Let $X_1,X_2, \ldots $ be independent identically distributed random points in a convex polytopal domain $A \subset \mathbb{R}^d$. Define the largest nearest neighbour link $L_n$ to be the smallest $r$ such that every point of $\mathcal X_n:=\{X_1,\ldots,X_n\}$ has another such point within distance $r$. We obtain a strong law of large numbers for $L_n$ in the large-$n$ limit. A related threshold, the connectivity threshold $M_n$, is the smallest $r$ such that the random geometric graph $G(\mathcal X_n, r)$ is connected. We show that as $n \to \infty$, almost surely $nL_n^d/\log n$ tends to a limit that depends on the geometry of $A$, and $nM_n^d/\log n$ tends to the same limit.