English

Genus Polynomials of Cubic Graphs with Non-Real Roots

Combinatorics 2022-12-21 v1

Abstract

Given a graph GG, its genus polynomial is ΓG(x)=k0gk(G)xk\Gamma_G(x) = \sum_{k\geq 0} g_k(G)x^k, where gk(G)g_k(G) is the number of 2-cell embeddings of GG in an orientable surface of genus kk. The Log-Concavity Genus Distribution (LCGD) Conjecture states that the genus polynomial of every graph is log-concave. It was further conjectured by Stahl that the genus polynomial of every graph has only real roots, however this was later disproved. We identify several examples of cubic graphs whose genus polynomials, in addition to having at least one non-real root, have a quadratic factor that is non-log-concave when factored over the real numbers.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2212.09971,
  title  = {Genus Polynomials of Cubic Graphs with Non-Real Roots},
  author = {MacKenzie Carr and Varpreet Dhaliwal and Bojan Mohar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2212.09971},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

7 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables