Spectral dimension, Euclidean embeddings, and the metric growth exponent

For reversible random networks, we exhibit a relationship between the almost sure spectral dimension and the Euclidean growth exponent, which is the smallest asymptotic rate of volume growth over all embeddings of the network into a Hilbert space. Using metric embedding theory, it is then shown that the Euclidean growth exponent coincides with the metric growth exponent. This simplifies and generalizes a powerful tool for bounding the spectral dimension in random networks.