English

The largest common subtree of two random trees

Probability 2026-01-05 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

We study the size and structure of the largest common subtree (LCS) between two independent Bienaym\'e trees conditioned to have size nn. When the trees are critical with finite 22nd and (2+κ)(2+\kappa)th moment respectively for some κ>0\kappa>0, we prove that the LCS has size of order n\sqrt{n}, and is approximated by the length of three paths meeting at a central node. Moreover, we show that the largest common subtree between two critical independent Bienaym\'e trees with size nn and finite second moments may be much larger than n\sqrt{n}, implying that our result is tight. We also pose a number of open questions and suggestions for future research.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.00119,
  title  = {The largest common subtree of two random trees},
  author = {Omer Angel and Caelan Atamanchuk and Anna Brandenberger and Serte Donderwinkel and Robin Khanfir},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.00119},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

45 pages, 7 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:47:30.485Z