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We study the partition function Z_{G(nk,k)}(Q,v) of the Q-state Potts model on the family of (non-planar) generalized Petersen graphs G(nk,k). We study its zeros in the plane (Q,v) for 1<= k <= 7. We also consider two specializations of…

Mathematical Physics · Physics 2015-10-07 Jesper Lykke Jacobsen , Jesus Salas

A bridgeless graph $G$ is called $3$-flow-critical if it does not admit a nowhere-zero $3$-flow, but $G/e$ has for any $e\in E(G)$. Tutte's $3$-flow conjecture can be equivalently stated as that every $3$-flow-critical graph contains a…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2020-03-23 Jiaao Li , Yulai Ma , Yongtang Shi , Weifan Wang , Yezhou Wu

A set $R\subseteq E(G)$ of a graph $G$ is $k$-removable if $G-R$ has a nowhere-zero $k$-flow. We prove that every graph $G$ admitting a nowhere-zero $4$-flow has a $3$-removable subset consisting of at most $\frac{1}{6}|E(G)|$ edges. This…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2025-11-04 Davide Mattiolo

Given a graph $G$, its genus polynomial is $\Gamma_G(x) = \sum_{k\geq 0} g_k(G)x^k$, where $g_k(G)$ is the number of 2-cell embeddings of $G$ in an orientable surface of genus $k$. The Log-Concavity Genus Distribution (LCGD) Conjecture…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2022-12-21 MacKenzie Carr , Varpreet Dhaliwal , Bojan Mohar

Let $G$ be a bridgeless cubic graph, and $\mu_2(G)$ the minimum number $k$ such that two 1-factors of $G$ intersect in $k$ edges. A cyclically $n$-edge-connected cubic graph $G$ has a nowhere-zero 5-flow if (1) $n \geq 6$ and $\mu_2(G) \leq…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2016-09-05 Eckhard Steffen

The chromatic polynomial P_G(q) of a loopless graph G is known to be nonzero (with explicitly known sign) on the intervals (-\infty,0), (0,1) and (1,32/27]. Analogous theorems hold for the flow polynomial of bridgeless graphs and for the…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2009-11-16 Bill Jackson , Alan D. Sokal

In this article we introduce the flow polynomial of a digraph and use it to study nowhere-zero flows from a commutative algebraic perspective. Using Hilbert's Nullstellensatz, we establish a relation between nowhere-zero flows and dual…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2007-05-23 Shmuel Onn

We prove that, in several settings, a graph has exponentially many nowhere-zero flows. These results may be seen as a counting alternative to the well-known proofs of existence of $Z_3$-, $Z_4$-, and $Z_6$-flows. In the dual setting,…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2019-04-09 Zdeněk Dvořák , Bojan Mohar , Robert Šámal

Let $Z_2\times Z_2=\{0, \alpha, \beta, \alpha+\beta\}$. If $G$ is a bridgeless cubic graph, $F$ is a perfect matching of $G$ and $\overline{F}$ is the complementary 2-factor of $F$, then a no-where zero $Z_2\times Z_2$-flow $\theta$ of…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2025-04-29 Vahan Mkrtchyan

We introduce and study a multivariate function that counts nowhere-zero flows on a graph G, in which each edge of G has an individual capacity. We prove that the associated counting function is a piecewise-defined polynomial in these…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2016-05-10 Matthias Beck , Alyssa Cuyjet , Gordon Rojas Kirby , Molly Stubblefield , Michael Young

This paper deals with the location of the complex zeros of the Tutte polynomial for a class of self-dual graphs. For this class of graphs, as the form of the eigenvalues is known, the regions of the complex plane can be focused on the sets…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2009-05-19 Jean-Michel Billiot , Franck Corset , Eric Fontenas

Given a graph $G$ whose edges are perfectly reliable and whose nodes each operate independently with probability $p\in[0,1],$ the node reliability of $G$ is the probability that at least one node is operational and that the operational…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2017-07-17 Jason Brown , Lucas Mol

In contrast to ordinary graphs, the number of the nowhere-zero group-flows in a signed graph may vary with different groups, even if the groups have the same order. In fact, for a signed graph $G$ and non-negative integer $d$, it was shown…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2018-06-26 Jianguo Qian

Let $T$ be a forest. We study polynomially high-chromatic pure pairs in graphs with no $T$ as an induced subgraph ($T$-free graphs in other words), with applications to the polynomial Gy\'arf\'as-Sumner conjecture. In addition to reproving…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2026-01-05 Tung H. Nguyen

Bouchet conjectured in 1983 that each signed graph that admits a nowhere-zero flow has a nowhere-zero 6-flow. We prove that the conjecture is true for all signed series-parallel graphs. Unlike the unsigned case, the restriction to…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2014-11-10 Tomáš Kaiser , Edita Rollová

A complete subgraph of a given graph is called a clique. A clique Polynomial of a graph is a generating function of the number of cliques in $G$. A real root of the clique polynomial of a graph $G$ is called a \emph{clique root} of $G$. \\…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2021-12-21 Hossein Teimoori Faal

Let $G$ be a connected bridgeless $(n,m)$-graph which may have loops and multiedges, and let $F(G,t)$ denote the flow polynomial of $G$. Dong and Koh \cite{Dong1} established an upper bound for the absolute value of coefficient $c_{i}$ of…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2025-02-19 Tingzeng Wu , Shuang Ma , Hong-Jian Lai

An (r,alpha)-bounded excess flow ((r,alpha)-flow) in an orientation of a graph G=(V,E) is an assignment of a real "flow value" between 1 and r-1 to every edge. Rather than 0 as in an actual flow, some flow excess, which does not exceed…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2018-07-12 Michael Tarsi

X. Hou, H.-J. Lai, P. Li and C.-Q. Zhang [J. Graph Theory 69 (2012) 464-470] showed that for a simple graph $G$ with $|V(G)|\ge 44$, if $\min\{\delta(G),\delta(G^c)\}\ge 4$, then either $G$ or its complementary graph $G^c$ has a…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2019-03-15 Jiaao Li , Xueliang Li , Meiling Wang

In 1983, Bouchet proved that every bidirected graph with a nowhere-zero integer-flow has a nowhere-zero 216-flow, and conjectured that 216 could be replaced with 6. This paper shows that for cyclically 5-edge-connected bidirected graphs…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2023-09-06 Matt DeVos , Kathryn Nurse , Robert Sámal