  Generating random graphs to model networks has a rich history. In this paper,
we analyze and improve upon the multifractal network generator (MFNG)
introduced by Palla et al. We provide a new result on the probability of
subgraphs existing in graphs generated with MFNG. From this result it follows
that we can quickly compute moments of an important set of graph properties,
such as the expected number of edges, stars, and cliques. Specifically, we show
how to compute these moments in time complexity independent of the size of the
graph and the number of recursive levels in the generative model. We leverage
this theory to a new method of moments algorithm for fitting large networks to
MFNG. Empirically, this new approach effectively simulates properties of
several social and information networks. In terms of matching subgraph counts,
our method outperforms similar algorithms used with the Stochastic Kronecker
Graph model. Furthermore, we present a fast approximation algorithm to generate
graph instances following the multi- fractal structure. The approximation
scheme is an improvement over previous methods, which ran in time complexity
quadratic in the number of vertices. Combined, our method of moments and fast
sampling scheme provide the first scalable framework for effectively modeling
large networks with MFNG.
