English

Sharp lower bounds for the number of maximum matchings in bipartite multigraphs

Combinatorics 2022-11-21 v1

Abstract

We study the minimum number of maximum matchings in a bipartite multigraph G with parts XX and YY under various conditions, refining the well-known lower bound due to M. Hall. When X=n|X|=n, every vertex in XX has degree at least kk, and every vertex in XX has at least rr distinct neighbors, the minimum is r!(kr+1)r!(k-r+1) when nrn\ge r and is [r+n(kr)]i=1n1(ri)[r+n(k-r)]\prod_{i=1}^{n-1}(r-i) when n<rn<r. When every vertex has at least two neighbors and YX=t0|Y|-|X|=t\ge 0, the minimum is [(n1)t+2+b](t+1)[(n-1)t+2+b](t+1), where b=E(G)2(n+t)b=|E(G)|-2(n+t). We also determine the minimum number of maximum matchings in several other situations. We provide a variety of sharpness constructions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2211.10427,
  title  = {Sharp lower bounds for the number of maximum matchings in bipartite multigraphs},
  author = {Alexandr V. Kostochka and Douglas B. West and Zimu Xiang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2211.10427},
  year   = {2022}
}