Marked-set connectivity threshold (${\tau }_L\sim \frac{1}{4}n\log n(|L|\sim \sqrt{n})$)

For a fixed set $L$ of $\lfloor \sqrt{n}\rfloor$ vertices, let ${\tau }_L$ be the first step at which they all belong to one graph component. In the uniform random graph process, ${\tau }_L$ lies between $n(\log n-\omega )/4$ and $n(\log n+\omega )/4$ with high probability for every $\omega \to \infty$. Below that scale the marked isolated vertex count has divergent expected value and small relative variance. Above it the logarithmic-regime giant component misses $o(\sqrt{n})$ vertices; exchangeability and a union bound show that none are marked. The label coupling then transfers the two assertions to the process.