Fermionic field theory for trees and forests

Abstract

We prove a generalization of Kirchhoff's matrix-tree theorem in which a large class of combinatorial objects are represented by non-Gaussian Grassmann integrals. As a special case, we show that unrooted spanning forests, which arise as a q \to 0 limit of the Potts model, can be represented by a Grassmann theory involving a Gaussian term and a particular bilocal four-fermion term. We show that this latter model can be mapped, to all orders in perturbation theory, onto the N-vector model at N=-1 or, equivalently, onto the sigma-model taking values in the unit supersphere in R^{1|2}. It follows that, in two dimensions, this fermionic model is perturbatively asymptotically free.