Related papers: Bounds on Characteristic Polynomials

We explore the interplay between algebraic combinatorics and algorithmic problems in graph theory by defining a polynomial with connections to correspondence colouring (also known as DP-colouring), a recent generalization of list-colouring,…

We examine combinatorial counting functions with two parameters, $n$ and $q$. For fixed $q$, these functions are (quasi-)polynomial in $n$. As $q$ varies, the degree of this polynomial is itself polynomial in $q$, as are the leading…

We find new properties of the topological transition polynomial of embedded graphs, $Q(G)$. We use these properties to explain the striking similarities between certain evaluations of Bollob\'as and Riordan's ribbon graph polynomial,…

Consider a graph $G$ with chromatic number $k$ and a collection of complete bipartite graphs, or bicliques, that cover the edges of $G$. We prove the following two results: \medskip \noindent $\bullet$ If the bicliques partition the edges…

Consider a semi-algebraic set A in R^d constructed from the sets which are determined by inequalities p_i(x)>0, p_i(x)\ge 0, or p_i(x)=0 for a given list of polynomials p_1,...,p_m. We prove several statements that fit into the following…

It is known that the inequality $$ \frac{\chi(G)(\chi(G)-1)}{2} + |V| - \chi(G) \leq |E|$$ holds for all connected graphs, where $\chi(G)$ denotes the chromatic number of $G$. We prove that equality holds whenever the graph consists of a…

We introduce a new method for showing that the roots of the characteristic polynomial of certain finite lattices are all nonnegative integers. This method is based on the notion of a quotient of a poset which will be developed to explain…

Let $\chi(G$) and $\chi_f(G)$ denote the chromatic and fractional chromatic numbers of a graph $G$, and let $(n^+ , n^0 , n^-)$ denote the inertia of $G$. We prove that: \[ 1 + \max\left(\frac{n^+}{n^-} , \frac{n^-}{n^+}\right) \le \chi(G)…

The generalized theta graph \Theta_{s_1,...,s_k} consists of a pair of endvertices joined by k internally disjoint paths of lengths s_1,...,s_k \ge 1. We prove that the roots of the chromatic polynomial $pi(\Theta_{s_1,...,s_k},z) of a…

Given an arbitrary graph $G$ we study the chromatic number of a random subgraph $G_{1/2}$ obtained from $G$ by removing each edge independently with probability $1/2$. Studying $\chi(G_{1/2})$ has been suggested by Bukh~\cite{Bukh}, who…

In 2015, Brown and Erey conjectured that every $2$-connected graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with chromatic number $k\geq 4$ has at most $(x-1)_{k-1}\big((x-1)^{n-k+1}+(-1)^{n-k}\big)$ proper $x$-colorings for all $x\geq k$. Engbers, Erey, Fox,…

The $M$-polynomial of a graph $G$ is defined as $\sum_{i\le j} m_{i,j}(G)x^iy^j$, where $m_{i,j}(G)$, $i,j\ge 1$, is the number of edges $uv$ of $G$ such that $\{d_v(G), d_u(G)\} = \{i,j\}$. Knowing the $M$-polynomial, formulas for bond…

In this article we consider certain well-known polynomials associated with graphs including the independence polynomial and the chromatic polynomial. These polynomials count certain objects in graphs: independent sets in the case of the…

A $k$-coloring of a graph $G=(V,E)$ is called semi-equitable if there exists a partition of its vertex set into independent subsets $V_1,\ldots,V_k$ in such a way that $|V_1| \notin \{\lceil |V|/k\rceil, \lfloor |V|/k \rfloor\}$ and…

In this paper, we find computational formulae for generalized characteristic polynomials of graph bundles. We show that the number of spanning trees in a graph is the partial derivative (at (0,1)) of the generalized characteristic…

A proper vertex coloring of a graph is equitable if the sizes of color classes differ by at most one. The equitable chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted by $\chi_=(G)$, is the minimum $k$ such that $G$ is equitably $k$-colorable. The…

Graph coloring problems are a central topic of study in the theory of algorithms. We study the problem of partially coloring partially colorable graphs. For $\alpha \leq 1$ and $k \in \mathbb{Z}^+$, we say that a graph $G=(V,E)$ is…

In this paper, we show that the solution to a large class of "tiling" problems is given by a polynomial sequence of binomial type. More specifically, we show that the number of ways to place a fixed set of polyominos on an $n\times n$…

We consider a primitive distance-regular graph $\Gamma$ with diameter at least $3$. We use the intersection numbers of $\Gamma$ to find a positive semidefinite matrix $G$ with integer entries. We show that $G$ has determinant zero if and…

We consider vertex partitions of the binomial random graph $G_{n,p}$. For $np\to\infty$, we observe the following phenomenon: in any partition into asymptotically fewer than $\chi(G_{n,p})$ parts, i.e. $o(np/\log np)$ parts, one part must…