casais@uni2a.unige.ch (10/02/90)
I have already sent a message asking for information on this problem last week, but I have not received any useful answer so far. So, here it is again: Is there a mathematical (statistical) characterization of the length and number of paths between the nodes of a directed graph without circuits ? I would expect only very broad limits in the general case, but I think there are more precise formulas (depending on the number of vertices, edges, etc) for more restricted categories of graphs, like trees, lattices, etc... I need references to such results in order to analyze algorithms working on graph data structures. The CS literature is full of methods for finding the shortest or even all paths in graphs, but there is apparently nothing describing the expected length of such paths, or the average number of paths between two nodes. I would very much appreciate any help for finding references on this topic in the graph theory literature. I will post the results to the net (other people are interested in them too). Sorry if this looks like some trivial question for real mathematicians, but I still hold that naive opinion that newsgroups are not just vectors for social entertainment... Thanks in advance. Eduardo Casais Centre Universitaire d'Informatique EARN/BITNET: casais@cgeuge51.bitnet 12, rue du Lac EAN/MHS: casais@cuisun.unige.ch 1207 Geneve UUCP: mcsun!cui!casais SUISSE mcsun!chx400!cui!casais Telephone: (41) (22) 787.65.86 Telefax: (41) (22) 735.39.05