Normal approximation for statistics of randomly weighted complexes

Abstract

We prove normal approximation bounds for statistics of randomly weighted (simplicial) complexes. In particular, we consider the complete $d$-dimensional complex on $n$ vertices with $d$-simplices equipped with i.i.d. weights. Our normal approximation bounds are quantified in terms of stabilization of difference operators, i.e., the effect on the statistic under addition/deletion of simplices. Our proof is based on Chatterjee's normal approximation bound and is a higher-dimensional analogue of the work of Cao on sparse Erdős-Rényi random graphs but our bounds are more in the spirit of `quantitative two-scale stabilization' bounds by Lachièze-Rey, Peccati, and Yang. As applications, we prove a CLT for nearest face-weights in randomly weighted $d$-complexes and give a normal approximation bound for local statistics of random $d$-complexes.

Apart from typographical changes, a minor error in the bounds in Corollaries 2.7 and 2.8 has been corrected; 24 pages