The $k$-cut model in deterministic and random trees

Abstract

The $k$-cut number of rooted graphs was introduced by Cai et al. as a generalization of the classical cutting model by Meir and Moon. In this paper, we show that all moments of the k-cut number of conditioned Galton-Watson trees converges after proper rescaling, which implies convergence in distribution to the same limit law regardless of the offspring distribution of the trees. This extends the result of Janson. Using the same method, we also show that the k-cut number of various random or deterministic trees of logarithmic height converges in probability to a constant after rescaling, such as random split-trees, uniform random recursive trees, and scale-free random trees.