Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 0707.2306

Parity, eulerian subgraphs and the Tutte polynomial

Andrew J. Goodall
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Identities obtained by elementary finite Fourier analysis are used to derive a variety of evaluations of the Tutte polynomial of a graph G at certain points (a,b) where (a-1)(b-1) equals 2 or 4. These evaluations are expressed in terms of eulerian subgraphs of G and the size of subgraphs modulo 2,3,4 or 6. In particular, a graph is found to have a nowhere-zero 4-flow if and only if there is a correlation between the event that three subgraphs A,B,C chosen uniformly at random have pairwise eulerian symmetric differences and the event that the integer part of (|A| + |B| + |C|) / 3 is even. Some further evaluations of the Tutte polynomial at points (a,b) where (a-1)(b-1) = 3 are also given that illustrate the unifying power of the methods used. The connection between results of Matiyasevich, Alon and Tarsi and Onn is highlighted by indicating how they may all be derived by the techniques adopted in this paper.

Explore related subjects

math.CO

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Andrew J. Goodall. 2007-09-20. Parity, eulerian subgraphs and the Tutte polynomial. https://arxiv.org/abs/0707.2306

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Adjunctions, Box Products, and Forcing Families

Sidorenko's conjecture states that the number of copies of any given bipartite graph in another graph of given density is asymptotically minimized by a random graph. For bipartite graphs containing a cycle, the forcing conjecture further asserts that asymptotic equality characterizes quasi-random graphs. We establish an adjoint identity for a general class of graph-substitution operators and use it to obtain Sidorenko and forcing results for balanced blow-ups, subdivisions, Cartesian products, and strong products.

math.CO↗
arXiv2026

On the Cost Number of Graphs with Determining Number Two

A distinguishing vertex coloring of a graph $G$ is a vertex coloring such that only the identity automorphism of $G$ preserves the coloring. A graph is $2$-distinguishable if it admits a distinguishing vertex coloring with two colors, and its cost $ρ(G)$ is the minimum size of a color class in such a coloring. The determining number of a graph $G$, denoted by $Det(G)$, is the minimum size of a subset $S\subseteq V(G)$ such that only the trivial automorphism fixes every element of $S$ pointwise. Boutin (J. Combin. Math. Combin. Comput. 85: 161-171, 2013) asked if $ρ(G)$ and $Det(G)$ can be arbitrarily far apart. While the case for $Det(G) = 1$ is trivial, the answer remained unknown for $Det(G) \ge 2$. In this manuscript, we show that if $Det(G)=2$ then not only is $ρ(G)$ bounded, but in fact $ρ(G) \leq 4$. This is the first resolution of Boutin's question for any nontrivial fixed determining number. Moreover, for every fixed $Det(G)= n$, we construct examples giving a lower bound on any possible upper bound for $ρ(G)$ in terms of $n$.

math.CO↗