The scaling limit of random cubic planar graphs

Abstract We study the random cubic planar graph with an even number of vertices. We show that the Brownian map arises as Gromov–Hausdorff–Prokhorov scaling limit of as tends to infinity, after rescaling distances by for a specific constant . This is the first time a model of random graphs that are not embedded into the plane is shown to converge to the Brownian map. Our approach features a new method that allows us to relate distances on random graphs to first‐passage percolation distances on their 3‐connected core.