Answer To Test Your Intuition (4)

Let G be a graph and u and v two vertices.

(1) Let H be a random graph where every edge of G is chosen with probability ½. Let p be the probability that there is a path between u and v in H.

(2) Let T be a random orientation of the graph G. Namely, every edge {x,y} is directed from x to y with probability ½ and otherwise it is directed from from y to x. Let q be the probability that there is a directed path from u to v in T.

What is the relation between p and q?

Answer: p=q

This is an old theorem of Colin McDiarmid: Continue reading