  We study the family of network models derived by requiring the expected
properties of a graph ensemble to match a given set of measurements of a
real-world network, while maximizing the entropy of the ensemble. Models of
this type play the same role in the study of networks as is played by the
Boltzmann distribution in classical statistical mechanics; they offer the best
prediction of network properties subject to the constraints imposed by a given
set of observations. We give exact solutions of models within this class that
incorporate arbitrary degree distributions and arbitrary but independent edge
probabilities. We also discuss some more complex examples with correlated edges
that can be solved approximately or exactly by adapting various familiar
methods, including mean-field theory, perturbation theory, and saddle-point
expansions.
