We study symmetric motifs in random geometric graphs. Symmetric motifs are
subsets of nodes which have the same adjacencies. These subgraphs are
particularly prevalent in random geometric graphs and appear in the Laplacian
and adjacency spectrum as sharp, distinct peaks, a feature often found in
real-world networks. We look at the probabilities of their appearance and
compare these across parameter space and dimension. We then use the Chen-Stein
method to derive the minimum separation distance in random geometric graphs
which we apply to study symmetric motifs in both the intensive and
thermodynamic limits. In the thermodynamic limit the probability that the
closest nodes are symmetric approaches one, whilst in the intensive limit this
probability depends upon the dimension.Comment: 11 page