Combinatorics (math.CO)

Abstract: Recently, we initiated the study of random walk labelings of graphs. These are graph labelings that are obtainable by performing a random walk on the graph, such that each vertex is labeled upon its first visit. In this work, we calculate the number of random walk labelings of several natural graph families: The wheel, fan, barbell, lollipop, tadpole, friendship, and snake graphs. Additionally, we prove several combinatorial identities that emerged during the calculations.

Abstract: $G_{m,n,k}$ is a subgraph of the complete bipartite graph $K_{m,n}$ with a $k$-matching removed. By a new method based on the embeddings of some $G_{m,n,k}$ with small $m,n,k$ and bipartite joins with small bipartite graphs, we construct the nonorientable genus embedding of $G_{m,n,k}$ for all $m,n\geq 3$ with $(m,n,k)\neq (5,4,4), (4,5,4),(5,5,5)$. Hence, we solve the cases $G_{n+1,n,n}$($n$ is even) and $G_{n,n,n}$, with the values of $n$ that have not been previously solved, i.e., $n\geq 6$. This completes previous work on the nonorientable genus of $G_{m,n,k}$.

Abstract: We determine all $m$-ary Boolean functions $f_0,\ldots,f_m$ and $n$-ary Boolean functions $g_0,\ldots,g_n$ satisfying the equation \[ f_0(g_1(z_{11},\ldots,z_{1m}),\ldots,g_n(z_{n1},\ldots,z_{nm})) = g_0(f_1(z_{11},\ldots,z_{n1}),\ldots,f_m(z_{1m},\ldots,z_{nm})), \] for all Boolean inputs $\{ z_{ij} : i \in [n], j \in [m] \}$. This extends characterizations by Dokow and Holzman (who considered the case $g_0 = \cdots = g_n$) and by Chase, Filmus, Minzer, Mossel and Saurabh (who considered the case $g_1 = \cdots = g_n$).

Abstract: We construct an electrical-network version of the twist map for the positive Grassmannian, and use it to solve the inverse problem of recovering conductances from the response matrix. Each conductance is expressed as a biratio of Pfaffians as in the inverse map of Kenyon and Wilson; however, our Pfaffians are the more canonical $B$ variables instead of their tripod variables, and are coordinates on the positive orthogonal Grassmannian studied by Henriques and Speyer.

Abstract: In \cite[Serra, Vena, Extremal families for the Kruskal-Katona theorem]{sv21}, the authors have shown a characterization of the extremal families for the Kruskal-Katona Theorem. We further develop some of the arguments given in \cite{sv21} and give additional properties of these extremal families. F\"uredi-Griggs/M\"ors theorem from 1986/85 \cite{furgri86,mors85} claims that, for some cardinalities, the initial segment of the colexicographical is the unique extremal family; we extend their result as follows: the number of (non-isomorphic) extremal families strictly grows with the gap between the last two coefficients of the $k$-binomial decomposition. We also show that every family is an induced subfamily of an extremal family, and that, somewhat going in the opposite direction, every extremal family is close to being the inital segment of the colex order; namely, if the family is extremal, then after performing $t$ lower shadows, with $t=O(\log(\log n))$, we obtain the initial segment of the colexicographical order. We also give a ``fast'' algorithm to determine whether, for a given $t$ and $m$, there exists an extremal family of size $m$ for which its $t$-th lower shadow is not yet the initial segment in the colexicographical order. As a byproduct of these arguments, we give yet another characterization of the families of $k$-sets satisfying equality in the Kruskal--Katona theorem. Such characterization is, at first glance, less appealing than the one in \cite{sv21}, since the additional information that it provides is indirect. However, the arguments used to prove such characterization provide additional insight on the structure of the extremal families themselves.

Abstract: Phylogenetic networks are used to represent the evolutionary history of species. They are versatile when compared to traditional phylogenetic trees, as they capture more complex evolutionary events such as hybridization and horizontal gene transfer. Distance-based methods such as the Neighbor-Net algorithm are widely used to compute phylogenetic networks from data. However, the output is necessarily an undirected graph, posing a great challenge to deduce the direction of genetic flow in order to infer the true evolutionary history. Recently, Huber et al. investigated two different computational problems relevant to orienting undirected phylogenetic networks into directed ones. In this paper, we consider the problem of orienting an undirected binary network into a tree-child network. We give some necessary conditions for determining the tree-child orientability, such as a tight upper bound on the size of tree-child orientable graphs, as well as many interesting examples. In addition, we introduce new families of undirected phylogenetic networks, the jellyfish graphs and ladder graphs, that are orientable but not tree-child orientable. We also prove that any ladder graph can be made tree-child orientable by adding extra leaves, and describe a simple algorithm for orienting a ladder graph to a tree-child network with the minimum number of extra leaves. We pose many open problems as well.

Abstract: This is the second part of our study of epimorphisms with source a thick generalized $m$-gon and target a thin generalized $m$-gon. We classify the case $m = 8$ when the polygons are finite (in the first part [15] we handled the cases $m = 3, 4$ and $6$). Then we show that the infinite case is very different, and construct examples which strongly differ from the finite case. A number of general structure theorems are also obtained, and we also take a look at the infinite case for general gonality.

Abstract: We prove that the only trees that admit perfect state transfer according to the adjacency matrix model are $P_2$ and $P_3$. This answers a question first asked by Godsil in 2012 and proves a conjecture by Coutinho and Liu from 2015.

Abstract: We prove the addition-deletion theorems for the Solomon-Terao polynomials, which have two important specializations. Namely, one is to the characteristic polynomials of hyperplane arangements, and the other to the Poincar\`{e} polynomials of the regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties. One of the main tools to show them is the free surjection theorem which confirms the right exactness of several important exact sequences among logarithmic modules. Moreover, we introduce a generalized polynomial $B$-theory to the higher order logarithmic modules, whose origin was due to Terao.

Abstract: Spectral graph theory is a captivating area of graph theory that employs the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of matrices associated with graphs to study them. In this paper, we present a collection of $20$ topics in spectral graph theory, covering a range of open problems and conjectures. Our focus is primarily on the adjacency matrix of graphs, and for each topic, we provide a brief historical overview.