Solution (source code)

= Solution

Explore the component of one vertex by processing discovered vertices in order. At each step, the number of newly discovered neighbours is a binomial variable with at most $n$ trials and success probability $1/(2n)$, on previously unexposed independent edges. Pad each step with independent dummy trials. This couples the exploration below independent offspring variables $\xi_i\sim\operatorname{Bin}(n,1/(2n))$, each of mean one half.

If the component has at least $k\ge2$ vertices, after $k-1$ vertices have been processed at least $k-1$ offspring must have been found. Hence
$$
P(|C(v)|\ge k)\le P\left(\sum_{i=1}^{k-1}\xi_i\ge k-1\right).
$$
The sum is binomial with mean $\mu=(k-1)/2$. The multiplicative Chernoff inequality $P(B\ge2\mu)\le(e/4)^\mu$ therefore gives
$$
P(|C(v)|\ge k)\le e^{-c(k-1)},\qquad c=\tfrac12(\log_e4-1)>0.
$$
A <union bound> over all vertices bounds the probability of any component of size at least $k$ by $ne^{-c(k-1)}$. Taking $k=\lceil\alpha\log_e n\rceil$ with any $\alpha>1/c$, for example ten, makes this tend to zero. Thus \b[the largest component is at most a constant times $\log n$ with high probability].