We give a new characterization of the Tutte polynomial of graphs. Our characterization is formally close (but inequivalent) to the original definition given by Tutte as the generating function of spanning trees counted according to activities. Tutte's notion of activity requires to choose a \emph{linear order} on the edge set (though the generating function of the activities is, in fact, independent of this order). We define a new notion of activity, the embedding-activity, which requires to choose a \emph{combinatorial embedding} of the graph, that is, a cyclic order of the edges around each vertex. We prove that the Tutte polynomial equals the generating function of spanning trees counted according to embedding-activities (this generating function being, in fact, independent of the embedding).
The Tutte polynomial is the most general invariant of matroids and graphs that can be computed recursively by deleting and contracting edges. We generalize this invariant to any class of combinatorial objects with deletion and contraction operations, associating to each such class a universal Tutte character by a functorial procedure. We show that these invariants satisfy a universal property and convolution formulae similar to the Tutte polynomial. With this machinery we recover classical invariants for delta-matroids, matroid perspectives, relative and colored matroids, generalized permutohe…
In this note we generalize the convolution formula for the Tutte polynomial of Kook-Reiner-Stanton and Etienne-Las Vergnas to a more general setting that includes both arithmetic matroids and delta-matroids. As corollaries, we obtain new proofs of two positivity results for pseudo-arithmetic matroids and a combinatorial interpretation of the arithmetic Tutte polynomial at infinitely many points in terms of arithmetic flows and colorings. We also exhibit connections with a decomposition of Dahmen-Micchelli spaces and lattice point counting in zonotopes.
We define and study "semimatroids", a class of objects which abstracts the dependence properties of an affine hyperplane arrangement. We show that geometric semilattices are precisely the posets of flats of semimatroids. We define and investigate the Tutte polynomial of a semimatroid. We prove that it is the universal Tutte-Grothendieck invariant for semimatroids, and we give a combinatorial interpretation for its non-negative coefficients.
Given an oriented graph G, the modular flow polynomial counts the number of nowhere-zero Z_k-flows of G. We give a description of the modular flow polynomial in terms of (open) Ehrhart polynomials of lattice polytopes. Using Ehrhart-Macdonald reciprocity we give a combinatorial interpretation for the values of the modular flow polynomial at negative arguments which answers a question of Beck and Zaslavsky (2006). Our construction extends to Z_l-tensions and we recover Stanley's reciprocity theorem for the chromatic polynomial. Combining the combinatorial reciprocity statements for flows and te…
We give a general multiplication-convolution identity for the multivariate and bivariate rank generating polynomial of a matroid. The bivariate rank generating polynomial is transformable to and from the Tutte polynomial by simple algebraic operations. Several identities, almost all already known in some form, are specializations of this identity. Combinatorial or probabilistic interpretations are given for the specialized identities.
Many combinatorial and topological invariants of a hyperplane arrangement can be computed in terms of its Tutte polynomial. Similarly, many invariants of a hypertoric arrangement can be computed in terms of its arithmetic Tutte polynomial. We compute the arithmetic Tutte polynomials of the classical root systems of types A,B,C, and D, with respect to their integer, root, and weight lattices. We do it in two ways: by introducing a finite field method for arithmetic Tutte polynomials, and by enumerating signed graphs with respect to six parameters.
We introduce the notion of an arithmetic matroid, whose main example is given by a list of elements of a finitely generated abelian group. In particular we study the representability of its dual, providing an extension of the Gale duality to this setting. Guided by the geometry of generalized toric arrangements, we provide a combinatorial interpretation of the associated arithmetic Tutte polynomial, which can be seen as a generalization of Crapo's formula for the classical Tutte polynomial.
We recover the Tutte polynomial of a matroid, up to change of coordinates, from an Ehrhart-style polynomial counting lattice points in the Minkowski sum of its base polytope and scalings of simplices. Our polynomial has coefficients of alternating sign with a combinatorial interpretation closely tied to the Dawson partition. Our definition extends in a straightforward way to polymatroids, and in this setting our polynomial has Kálmán's internal and external activity polynomials as its univariate specialisations.
For any graph G with n edges, the spanning subgraphs and the orientations of G are both counted by the evaluation T_G(2,2)=2^n of its Tutte polynomial. We define a bijection $Φ$ between spanning subgraphs and orientations and explore its enumerative consequences regarding the Tutte polynomial. The bijection $Φ$ is closely related to a recent characterization of the Tutte polynomial relying on a combinatorial embedding of the graph G, that is, on a choice of cyclic order of the edges around each vertex. Among other results, we obtain a combinatorial interpretation for each of the evaluations T_…
The Tutte polynomial for matroids is not directly applicable to polymatroids. For instance, deletion-contraction properties do not hold. We construct a polynomial for polymatroids which behaves similarly to the Tutte polynomial of a matroid, and in fact contains the same information as the Tutte polynomial when we restrict to matroids. This polynomial is constructed using lattice point counts in the Minkowski sum of the base polytope of a polymatroid and scaled copies of the standard simplex. We also show that, in the matroid case, our polynomial has coefficients of alternating sign, with a co…
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 Bollobás and Riordan's ribbon graph polynomial, $R(G)$, and the topological Penrose polynomial, $P(G)$. The general framework provided by $Q(G)$ also leads to several other combinatorial interpretations these polynomials. In particular, we express $P(G)$, $R(G)$, and the Tutte polynomial, $T(G)$, as sums of chromatic polynomials of graphs derived from $G$; show that these polynomials count $k$-valuations of media…
We study the Tutte polynomial of two infinite families of finite graphs: the Sierpiński graphs, which are finite approximations of the well-known Sierpiński gasket, and the Schreier graphs of the Hanoi Towers group $H^{(3)}$ acting on the rooted ternary tree. For both of them, we recursively describe the Tutte polynomial and we compute several special evaluations of it, giving interesting results about the combinatorial structure of these graphs.
A common generalization for the chromatic polynomial and the flow polynomial of a graph $G$ is the Tutte polynomial $T(G;x,y)$. The combinatorial meaning for the coefficients of $T$ was discovered by Tutte at the beginning of its definition. However, for a long time the combinatorial meaning for the values of $T$ is missing, except for a few values such as $T(G;i,j)$, where $1\leq i,j\leq 2$, until recently for $T(G;1,0)$ and $T(G;0,1)$. In this third one of a series of papers, we introduce product valuations, cartesian product arrangements, and multivariable characteristic polynomials, and ap…
The q-semicircular distribution is a probability law that interpolates between the Gaussian law and the semicircular law. There is a combinatorial interpretation of its moments in terms of matchings where q follows the number of crossings, whereas for the free cumulants one has to restrict the enumeration to connected matchings. The purpose of this article is to describe combinatorial properties of the classical cumulants. We show that like the free cumulants, they are obtained by an enumeration of connected matchings, the weight being now an evaluation of the Tutte polynomial of a so-called c…
In this survey of graph polynomials, we emphasize the Tutte polynomial and a selection of closely related graph polynomials. We explore some of the Tutte polynomial's many properties and applications and we use the Tutte polynomial to showcase a variety of principles and techniques for graph polynomials in general. These include several ways in which a graph polynomial may be defined and methods for extracting combinatorial information and algebraic properties from a graph polynomial. We also use the Tutte polynomial to demonstrate how graph polynomials may be both specialized and generalized,…
By considering Tutte polynomials of Hopf algebras, we show how a Tutte polynomial can be canonically associated with combinatorial objects that have some notions of deletion and contraction. We show that several graph polynomials from the literature arise from this framework. These polynomials include the classical Tutte polynomial of graphs and matroids, Las Vergnas' Tutte polynomial of the morphism of matroids and his Tutte polynomial for embedded graphs, Bollobas and Riordan's ribbon graph polynomial, the Krushkal polynomial, and the Penrose polynomial. We show that our Tutte polynomials of…
We introduce a modular (integral) complementary polynomial $κ(G;x,y)$ ($κ_{\mathbbm z}(G;x,y)$) of two variables of a graph $G$ by counting the number of modular (integral) complementary tension-flows (CTF) of $G$ with an orientation $ε$. We study these polynomials by further introducing a cut-Eulerian equivalence relation on orientations and geometric structures such as the complementary open lattice polyhedron $Δ_\textsc{ctf}(G,ε)$, the complementary open 0-1 polytope $Δ^+_\textsc{ctf}(G,ε)$, and the complementary open lattice polytopes $Δ^ρ_\textsc{ctf}(G,ε)$ with respect to orientations $ρ…
We study the Tutte polynomial of two infinite families of finite graphs. These are the Schreier graphs associated with the action of two well-known self-similar groups acting on the binary rooted tree by automorphisms: the first Grigorchuk group of intermediate growth, and the iterated monodromy group of the complex polynomial $z^2-1$ known as the Basilica group. For both of them, we describe the Tutte polynomial and we compute several special evaluations of it, giving further information about the combinatorial structure of these graphs.
Unlike Whitney's definition of the corank-nullity generating function $T(G;x+1,y+1)$, Tutte's definition of his now eponymous polynomial $T(G;x,y)$ requires a total order on the edges of which the polynomial is a posteriori independent. Tutte presented his definition in terms of internal and external activities of maximal spanning forests. Although Tutte's original definition may appear somewhat ad hoc upon first inspection, subsequent work by various researchers has demonstrated that activity is a deep combinatorial concept. In this survey, we provide an introduction to activities for graphs …
Plethysm is a fundamental operation in symmetric function theory, derived directly from its connection with representation theory. However, it does not admit a simple combinatorial interpretation, and finding coefficients of Schur function plethysms is a major open question. In this paper, we introduce a graph-theoretic interpretation for any plethysm based on the chromatic symmetric function. We use this interpretation to give simple proofs of new and previously known plethystic identities, as well as chromatic symmetric function identities.
Using Tutte's combinatorial definition of a map we define a $Δ$-matroid purely combinatorially and show that it is identical to Bouchet's topological definition.
Tutte's embedding theorem states that every 3-connected graph without a $K_5$ or $K_{3,3}$ minor (i.e. a planar graph) is embedded in the plane if the outer face is in convex position and the interior vertices are convex combinations of their neighbors. We show that this result extends to simply connected tetrahedral meshes in a natural way: for the tetrahedral mesh to be embedded if the outer polyhedron is in convex position and the interior vertices are convex combination of their neighbors it is sufficient (but not necessary) that the graph of the tetrahedral mesh contains no $K_6$ and no $…
We study some combinatorial and algebraic properties of certain quadratic algebras related with dynamical classical and classical Yang-Baxter equations. One can find more details about the content of present paper in Extended Abstract.
We consider the problem of approximating certain combinatorial polynomials. First, we consider the problem of approximating the Tutte polynomial of a binary matroid with parameters q>= 2 and gamma. (Relative to the classical (x,y) parameterisation, q=(x-1)(y-1) and gamma=y-1.) A graph is a special case of a binary matroid, so earlier work by the authors shows inapproximability (subject to certain complexity assumptions) for q>2, apart from the trivial case gamma=0. The situation for q=2 is different. Previous results for graphs imply inapproximability in the region -2<=gamma<0, apart from at t…
A generalization of Tutte polynomial involved in the evaluation of the moments of the integrated geometric Brownian in the Ito formalism is discussed. The new combinatorial invariant depends on the order in which the sequence of contraction-deletions have been performed on the graph. Thus, this work provides a motivation for studying an order-dependent Tutte polynomial in the context of stochastic differential equations. We show that in the limit of the control parameters encoding the ordering going to zero, the multivariate Tutte-Fortuin-Kasteleyn polynomial is recovered.
This thesis deals with the Tutte polynomial, studied from different points of view. In the first part, we address the enumeration of planar maps equipped with a spanning forest, here called forested maps, with a weight $z$ per face and a weight $u$ per non-root component of the forest. Equivalently, we count (with respect to the number of faces) the planar maps $C$ weighted by $T_C(u+1,1)$, where $T_C$ is the Tutte polynomial of $C$. We begin by a purely combinatorial characterization of the corresponding generating function, denoted by $F(z,u)$. We deduce from this that $F(z,u)$ is differenti…
The Bollobás-Riordan polynomial [Math. Ann. 323, 81 (2002)] is a universal polynomial invariant for ribbon graphs. We find an extension of this polynomial for a particular family of combinatorial objects, called rank 3 weakly-colored stranded graphs. Stranded graphs arise in the study of tensor models for quantum gravity in physics, and generalize graphs and ribbon graphs. We present a seven-variable polynomial invariant of these graphs, which obeys a contraction/deletion recursion relation similar to that of the Tutte and Bollobás-Riordan polynomials. However, it is defined on a much broader …
A fourientation of a graph is a choice for each edge of the graph whether to orient that edge in either direction, leave it unoriented, or biorient it. Fixing a total order on the edges and a reference orientation of the graph, we investigate properties of cuts and cycles in fourientations which give trivariate generating functions that are generalized Tutte polynomial evaluations of the form \[(k+m)^{n-1}(k+l)^gT\left(\frac{αk + βl + m}{k+m},\frac{γk + l + δm}{k+l}\right)\] for $α,γ\in \{0,1,2\}$ and $β, δ\in \{0,1\}$. We introduce an intersection lattice of 64 cut-cycle fourientation classes…
The classical relationship between the Tutte polynomial of graph theory and the Potts model of statistical mechanics has resulted in valuable interactions between the disciplines. Unfortunately, it does not include the external magnetic fields that appear in most Potts model applications. Here we define the V-polynomial, which lifts the classical relationship between the Tutte polynomial and the zero field Potts model to encompass external magnetic fields. The V-polynomial generalizes Nobel and Welsh's W-polynomial, which extends the Tutte polynomial by incorporating vertex weights and adaptin…
This paper surveys a comprehensive, although not exhaustive, sampling of graph polynomials with the goal of providing a brief overview of a variety of techniques defining a graph polynomial and then for decoding the combinatorial information it contains. The polynomials we discuss here are not generally specializations of the Tutte polynomial, but they are each in some way related to the Tutte polynomial, and often to one another. We emphasize these interrelations and explore how an understanding of one polynomial can guide research into others. We also discuss multivariable generalizations of…
In this work, we study matroids over a domain and several classical combinatorial and algebraic invariants related. We define their Grothendieck-Tutte polynomial $T_{\mathcal{M}}(x,y)$, extending the definition given by Fink and Moci in 2016, and we show that such polynomial has the classical deletion-contraction property. Moreover, we study the set of independencies for a realizable matroid over a domain, generalizing the definition of \emph{poset of torsions} $Gr(\mathcal{M})$ given by the second author in 2017. This is a union of identical simplicial posets as for (quasi-)arithmetic matroid…
The Tutte equations are ported (or set-pointed) when the equations F(N) = g_e F(N/e) + r_e F(N\e) are omitted for elements e in a distinguished set called ports. Solutions F can distinguish different orientations of the same matroid. A ported extensor with ground set is a decomposible element in the exterior algebra over a vector space with a given basis, called the ground set, containing a distinguished subset called ports. These can represent ported matroids and have analogous dualization, deletion and contraction operations. A ported extensor function is defined using dualization, port elem…
The multivariate Tutte polynomial (known to physicists as the Potts-model partition function) can be defined on an arbitrary finite graph G, or more generally on an arbitrary matroid M, and encodes much important combinatorial information about the graph (indeed, in the matroid case it encodes the full structure of the matroid). It contains as a special case the familiar two-variable Tutte polynomial -- and therefore also its one-variable specializations such as the chromatic polynomial, the flow polynomial and the reliability polynomial -- but is considerably more flexible. I begin by giving …
We prove a combinatorial formula for Macdonald cumulants which generalizes the celebrated formula of Haglund for Macdonald polynomials. We provide several applications of our formula. Firstly, it gives a new, constructive proof of a strong factorization property of Macdonald polynomials proven recently by the author of this paper. Moreover it proves that Macdonald cumulants are $q,t$--positive in the monomial and in the fundamental quasisymmetric bases. Furthermore, we use our formula to prove the recent higher-order Macdonald positivity conjecture for the coefficients of the Schur polynomials…
Combinatorial rigidity theory seeks to describe the rigidity or flexibility of bar-joint frameworks in R^d in terms of the structure of the underlying graph G. The goal of this article is to broaden the foundations of combinatorial rigidity theory by replacing G with an arbitrary representable matroid M. The ideas of rigidity independence and parallel independence, as well as Laman's and Recski's combinatorial characterizations of 2-dimensional rigidity for graphs, can naturally be extended to this winder setting. As we explain, many of these fundamental concepts really depend only on the matr…
We expose a relationship between jamming and a generalization of Tutte's barycentric embedding. This provides a basis for the systematic treatment of jamming and maximal packing problems on two-dimensional surfaces.
We show that computing the Tutte polynomial of a linear matroid of dimension $k$ on $k^{O(1)}$ points over a field of $k^{O(1)}$ elements requires $k^{Ω(k)}$ time unless the \#ETH---a counting extension of the Exponential Time Hypothesis of Impagliazzo and Paturi [CCC 1999] due to Dell {\em et al.} [ACM TALG 2014]---is false. This holds also for linear matroids that admit a representation where every point is associated to a vector with at most two nonzero coordinates. We also show that the same is true for computing the Tutte polynomial of a binary matroid of dimension $k$ on $k^{O(1)}$ point…
We introduce two frameworks in order to deal with fractal and multi-fractal analysis for subset sum problems where some embedding into the $1$-dimensional Euclidean space plays an important role. As one of these frameworks, the notion of the combinatorial $q$-fractal dimension for a subset sum function is introduced. Thereby, ``non-classical'' generalized dimensions for a family of subset~sum functions can be defined. These generalized dimensions include the box-counting dimension, the information dimension and the correlation dimension as well as the classical case. The combinatorial $q$-frac…
For any matroid $M$, we compute the Tutte polynomial $T_M(x,y)$ using the mixed intersection numbers of certain classes in the combinatorial Chow ring $A^\bullet(M)$ arising from hypersimplices. Using the mixed Hodge-Riemann relations, we deduce a strengthening of the log-concavity of the $h$-vector of a matroid complex, improving on an old conjecture of Dawson.
In this short survey we present the appearance of some combinatorial notions in quantum field theory. We first focus on topological graph polynomials (the Tutte polynomial and its multivariate version) and their relation with the parametric representation of the commutative $Φ^4$ field theory. We then generalize this to ribbon graphs and present the relation of the Bollobás-Riordan polynomial with the parametric representation of some $Φ^4$ field theory on the non-commutative Moyal space. We also review the rôle played by the Connes-Kreimer Hopf algebra as the combinatorial backbone of the ren…
We study countable embedding-universal and homomorphism-universal structures and unify results related to both of these notions. We show that many universal and ultrahomogeneous structures allow a concise description (called here a finite presentation). Extending classical work of Rado (for the random graph), we find a finite presentation for each of the following classes: homogeneous undirected graphs, homogeneous tournaments and homogeneous partially ordered sets. We also give a finite presentation of the rational Urysohn metric space and some homogeneous directed graphs. We survey well know…
The Raney numbers $R_{p,r}(n)$ are a two-parameter generalization of the Catalan numbers that were introduced by Raney in his investigation of functional composition patterns \cite{Raney}. We give a new combinatorial interpretation for all Raney numbers in terms of planar embeddings of certain collections of trees, a construction that recovers the usual interpretation of the $p$-Catalan numbers in terms of $p$-ary trees via the specialization $R_{p,1}(n) =_{p} c_n$. Our technique leads to several combinatorial identities involving the Raney numbers and ordered partitions. We then give addition…
We study the space ${\mathcal X}^{d}(G)$ of pictures of a graph $G$ in complex projective $d$-space. The main result is that the homology groups (with integer coefficients) of ${\mathcal X}^{d}(G)$ are completely determined by the Tutte polynomial of $G$. One application is a criterion in terms of the Tutte polynomial for independence in the {\it $d$-parallel matroids} studied in combinatorial rigidity theory. For certain special graphs called \defterm{orchards}, the picture space is smooth and has the structure of an iterated projective bundle. We give a Borel presentation of the cohomology r…
Pointed pseudo-triangulations are planar minimally rigid graphs embedded in the plane with pointed vertices (adjacent to an angle larger than 180 degrees. In this paper we prove that the opposite statement is also true, namely that planar minimally rigid graphs always admit pointed embeddings, even under certain natural topological and combinatorial constraints. We provide two proofs, which both yield efficient embedding algorithms. One based on Henneberg inductive constructions from combinatorial rigidity theory, the other on a generalization of Tutte's barycentric embeddings to directed grap…
