A bipartite graph G is known to be Pfaffian if and only if it does not contain an even subdivision H of $K_{3,3}$ such that $G - VH$ contains a 1-factor. However a general characterisation of Pfaffian graphs in terms of forbidden subgraphs is currently not known. In this paper we describe a possible approach to the derivation of such a characterisation. We also extend the characterisation for bipartite graphs to a slightly more general class of graphs.
In 1967 Kasteleyn introduced a powerful method for enumerating the 1-factors of planar graphs. In fact his method can be extended to graphs which permit an orientation under which every alternating circuit is clockwise odd. Graphs with this property are called {\it Pfaffian}. Little characterised Pfaffian bipartite graphs in terms of forbidden subgraphs in 1975. We extend his characterisation to near bipartite graphs.
A graph $G$ is Pfaffian if it has an orientation such that each central cycle $C$ (i.e. $C$ is even and $G-V(C)$ has a perfect matching) has an odd number of edges directed in either direction of the cycle. The number of perfect matchings of Pfaffian graphs can be computed in polynomial time. In this paper, by applying the characterization of Pfaffian braces due to Robertson, Seymour and Thomas [Ann. Math. 150 (1999) 929-975], and independently McCuaig [Electorn. J. Combin. 11 (2004) #R79], we show that every embedding of a Pfaffian brace on a surface with positive genus has face-width at most…
We give a characterization of Pfaffian graphs in terms of even orientations, extending the characterization of near bipartite non--pfaffian graphs by Fischer and Little \cite{FL}. Our graph theoretical characterization is equivalent to the one proved by Little in \cite{L73} (cf. \cite{LR}) using linear algebra arguments.
Graphical condensation is a technique used to prove combinatorial identities among numbers of perfect matchings of plane graphs. Propp and Kuo first applied this technique to prove identities for bipartite graphs. Yan, Yeh, and Zhang later applied graphical condensation to nonbipartite graphs to prove more complex identities. Here we generalize some of the identities of Yan, Yeh, and Zhang. We also describe the latest generalization of graphical condensation in which the number of perfect matchings of a plane graph is expressed as a Pfaffian or a determinant where the entries are also numbers …
Masbaum and Vaintrob's "Pfaffian matrix tree theorem" implies that counting spanning trees of a 3-uniform hypergraph (abbreviated to 3-graph) can be done in polynomial time for a class of "3-Pfaffian" 3-graphs, comparable to and related to the class of Pfaffian graphs. We prove a complexity result for recognizing a 3-Pfaffian 3-graph and describe two large classes of 3-Pfaffian 3-graphs -- one of these is given by a forbidden subgraph characterization analogous to Little's for bipartite Pfaffian graphs, and the other consists of a class of partial Steiner triple systems for which the property …
We present some Pfaffian identities, which are completely different from the Plücker relations. As consequences we obtain a quadratic identity for the number of perfect matchings of plane graphs, which has a simpler form than the formula by Yan et al (Graphical condensation of plane graphs: a combinatorial approach, Theoret. Comput. Sci., to appear), and we also obtain some new determinant identities.
The permanental polynomial of a graph $G$ is $π(G,x)\triangleq\mathrm{per}(xI-A(G))$. From the result that a bipartite graph $G$ admits an orientation $G^e$ such that every cycle is oddly oriented if and only if it contains no even subdivision of $K_{2,3}$, Yan and Zhang showed that the permanental polynomial of such a bipartite graph $G$ can be expressed as the characteristic polynomial of the skew adjacency matrix $A(G^e)$. In this paper we first prove that this equality holds only if the bipartite graph $G$ contains no even subdivision of $K_{2,3}$. Then we prove that such bipartite graphs …
Given a 0-1 square matrix A, when can some of the 1's be changed to -1's in such a way that the permanent of A equals the determinant of the modified matrix? When does a real square matrix have the property that every real matrix with the same sign pattern (that is, the corresponding entries either have the same sign or are both zero) is nonsingular? When is a hypergraph with n vertices and n hyperedges minimally nonbipartite? When does a bipartite graph have a "Pfaffian orientation"? Given a digraph, does it have no directed circuit of even length? Given a digraph, does it have a subdivision …
We give upper bounds on weighted perfect matchings in pfaffian graphs. These upper bounds are better than Bregman's upper bounds on the number of perfect matchings. We show that some of our upper bounds are sharp for 3 and 4-regular pfaffian graphs. We apply our results to fullerene graphs.
After recalling the definition of Grassmann algebra and elements of Grassmann--Berezin calculus, we use the expression of Pfaffians as Grassmann integrals to generalize a series of formulas relating generating functions of paths in digraphs to Pfaffians. We start with the celebrated Lindström-Gessel-Viennot formula, which we derive in the general case of a graph with cycles. We then make further use of Grassmann algebraic tools to prove a generalization of the results of (Stembridge 1990). Our results, which are applicable to graphs with cycles, are formulated in terms of systems of noninterse…
Graphs derived from groups are a widely studied class of graphs, motivated by their highly symmetric structure. In particular, G-graphs offer an easy and interesting alternative construction of semi-symmetric graphs. After recalling the main properties of these graphs, this papers gives an extended characterisation of G-graphs and develops the link between bipartite G-graphs and incidence graphs. It appears that these two classes of graphs have a wide overlapping despite having completely different constructions. We give partial answers to the problem of finding which complete simple graphs ha…
We disprove the characterisation of graphs with equal independence and annihilation number by Larson and Pepper (2011). Series of counterexamples with arbitrary number of vertices, arbitrary number of components, arbitrary large independence number and arbitrary large difference between the critical and the regular independence number are provided. Furthermore, we point out the error in the proof of the theorem. However, we show that the theorem still holds for bipartite graphs and connected claw-free graphs.
We show that certain topologically defined uniform spanning tree probabilities for graphs embedded in an annulus can be computed as linear combinations of Pfaffians of matrices involving the line-bundle Green's function, where the coefficients count cover-inclusive Dyck tilings of skew Young diagrams.
A well known theorem due to Kasteleyn states that the partition function of an Ising model on an arbitrary planar graph can be represented as the Pfaffian of a skew-symmetric matrix associated to the graph. This results both embodies the free fermionic nature of any planar Ising model and eventually gives an effective way of computing its partition functions in closed form. An extension of this result to non planar models expresses the partition function as a sum of Pfaffians which number is related to the genus of the oriented surface on which the graph can be embedded. In graph theory, McLan…
The $G$-graph $Γ(G,S)$ is a graph from the group $G$ generated by $S\subseteq G$, where the vertices are the right cosets of the cyclic subgroups $\langle s \rangle, s\in S$ with $k$-edges between two distinct cosets if there is an intersection of $k$ elements. In this thesis, after presenting some important properties of $G$-graphs, we show how the $G$-graph depends on the generating set of the group. We give the $G$-graphs of the symmetric group, alternating group and the semi-dihedral group with respect to various generating sets. We give a characterisation of finite $G$-graphs; in the gene…
We consider the monomer-dimer partition function on arbitrary finite planar graphs and arbitrary monomer and dimer weights, with the restriction that the only non-zero monomer weights are those on the boundary. We prove a Pfaffian formula for the corresponding partition function. As a consequence of this result, multipoint boundary monomer correlation functions at close packing are shown to satisfy fermionic statistics. Our proof is based on the celebrated Kasteleyn theorem, combined with a theorem on Pfaffians proved by one of the authors, and a careful labeling and directing procedure of the…
Strongly chordal graphs are a subclass of chordal graphs. Farber also established a number of different characterisations for this class of graphs. These include an intersection graph characterisation that is analogous to a similar characterisation for chordal graphs. Seker et al. exploited this characterisation of chordal graphs to obtain an algorithm for generating them. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to show that strongly chordal graphs can also be generated using their intersection graph characterisation.
A simple graph $G=(V,E)$ is a $(2,1)$-circuit if $|E|=2|V|$ and $|E(H)|\leq 2|V(H)|-1$ for every proper subgraph $H$ of $G$. Motivated, in part, by ongoing work to understand unique realisations of graphs on surfaces, we derive a constructive characterisation of $(2,1)$-circuits. The characterisation uses the well known 1-extension and $X$-replacement operations as well as several summation moves to glue together $(2,1)$-circuits over small cutsets.
Classes with bounded expansion, which generalise classes that exclude a topological minor, have recently been introduced by Nešetřil and Ossona de Mendez. These classes are defined by the fact that the maximum average degree of a shallow minor of a graph in the class is bounded by a function of the depth of the shallow minor. Several linear-time algorithms are known for bounded expansion classes (such as subgraph isomorphism testing), and they allow restricted homomorphism dualities, amongst other desirable properties. In this paper we establish two new characterisations of bounded expansion c…
An integer additive set-indexer is defined as an injective function $f:V(G)\rightarrow 2^{\mathbb{N}_0}$ such that the induced function $g_f:E(G) \rightarrow 2^{\mathbb{N}_0}$ defined by $g_f (uv) = f(u)+ f(v)$ is also injective. An integer additive set-indexer is said to be $k$-uniform if $|g_f(e)| = k$ for all $e\in E(G)$. An integer additive set-indexer $f$ is said to be a weak integer additive set-indexer if $|g_f(uv)|=max(|f(u)|,|f(v)|)$ for all $u,v\in V(G)$. In this paper, we study the characteristics of certain graphs and graph classes which admit weak integer additive set-indexers.
An integer additive set-indexer is defined as an injective function $f:V(G)\rightarrow 2^{\mathbb{N}_0}$ such that the induced function $g_f:E(G) \rightarrow 2^{\mathbb{N}_0}$ defined by $g_f (uv) = f(u)+ f(v)$ is also injective, where $f(u)+f(v)$ is the sumset of $f(u)$ and $f(v)$. If $g_f(uv)=k~\forall~uv\in E(G)$, then $f$ is said to be a $k$-uniform integer additive set-indexers. An integer additive set-indexer $f$ is said to be a strong integer additive set-indexer if $|g_f(uv)|=|f(u)|.|f(v)|~\forall ~ uv\in E(G)$. We already have some characteristics of the graphs which admit strong inte…
We introduce the notion of an \emph{$n$-dimensional mixed dihedral group}, a general class of groups for which we give a graph theoretic characterisation. In particular, if $H$ is an $n$-dimensional mixed dihedral group then the we construct an edge-transitive Cayley graph $Γ$ of $H$ such that the clique graph $Σ$ of $Γ$ is a $2$-arc-transitive normal cover of $\K_{2^n,2^n}$, with a subgroup of $\Aut(Σ)$ inducing a particular \emph{edge-affine} action on $\K_{2^n,2^n}$. Conversely, we prove that if $Σ$ is a $2$-arc-transitive normal cover of $\K_{2^n,2^n}$, with a subgroup of $\Aut(Σ)$ inducin…
In this paper we give two characterisations of the class of reflexive graphs admitting distributive lattice polymorphisms and use these characterisations to address the problem of recognition: for a reflexive graph G in which no two vertices have the same neighbourhood, we find a polynomial time algorithm to decide if G admits a distributive lattice polymorphism.
Koh and Tay introduced a new family of graphs, $G$ vertex-multiplications, as an extension of complete $n$-partite graphs. They proved a fundamental classification of $G$ vertex-multiplications into three classes $\mathscr{C}_0, \mathscr{C}_1$ and $\mathscr{C}_2$. It was shown that any vertex-multiplication of a tree with diameter at least 3 does not belong to the class $\mathscr{C}_2$. Furthermore, for vertex-multiplications of trees with diameter $5$, some necessary and sufficient conditions for $\mathscr{C}_0$ were established. In this paper, we give a complete characterisation of vertex-mu…
We characterise the pairs of graphs $\{ X, Y \}$ such that all $\{ X, Y \}$-free graphs (distinct from $C_5$) are perfect. Similarly, we characterise pairs $\{ X, Y \}$ such that all $\{ X, Y \}$-free graphs (distinct from $C_5$) are $ω$-colourable (that is, their chromatic number is equal to their clique number). More generally, we show characterizations of pairs $\{ X, Y \}$ for perfectness and $ω$-colourability of all connected $\{ X, Y \}$-free graphs which are of independence at least $3$, distinct from an odd cycle, and of order at least $n_0$, and similar characterisations subject to ea…
A graph property (i.e., a set of graphs) is induced-hereditary or additive if it is closed under taking induced-subgraphs or disjoint unions. If $\cP$ and $\cQ$ are properties, the product $\cP \circ \cQ$ consists of all graphs $G$ for which there is a partition of the vertex set of $G$ into (possibly empty) subsets $A$ and $B$ with $G[A] \in \cP$ and $G[B] \in \cQ$. A property is reducible if it is the product of two other properties, and irreducible otherwise. We completely describe the few reducible induced-hereditary properties that have a unique factorisation into irreducibles. Analogs of…
Phylogenetic networks are a type of directed acyclic graph that represent how a set $X$ of present-day species are descended from a common ancestor by processes of speciation and reticulate evolution. In the absence of reticulate evolution, such networks are simply phylogenetic (evolutionary) trees. Moreover, phylogenetic networks that are not trees can sometimes be represented as phylogenetic trees with additional directed edges placed between their edges. Such networks are called {\em tree based}, and the class of phylogenetic networks that are tree based has recently been characterised. In …
We study a game of pursuit and evasion introduced by Seager in 2012, in which a cop searches the robber from outside the graph, using distance queries. A graph on which the cop wins is called locatable. In her original paper, Seager asked whether there exists a characterisation of the graph property of locatable graphs by either forbidden or forbidden induced subgraphs, both of which we answer in the negative. We then proceed to show that such a characterisation does exist for graphs of diameter at most 2, stating it explicitly, and note that this is not true for higher diameter. Exploring a d…
The topological containment problem is known to be polynomial-time solvable for any fixed pattern graph $H$, but good characterisations have been found for only a handful of non-trivial pattern graphs. The complete graph on five vertices, $K_5$, is one pattern graph for which a characterisation has not been found. The discovery of such a characterisation would be of particular interest, due to the Hajós Conjecture. One step towards this may be to find a good characterisation of graphs that do not topologically contain the simpler pattern graph $K_5^-$, obtained by removing a single edge from $…
A foundational theorem of Laman provides a counting characterisation of the finite simple graphs whose generic bar-joint frameworks in two dimensions are infinitesimally rigid. Recently a Laman-type characterisation was obtained for frameworks in three dimensions whose vertices are constrained to concentric spheres or to concentric cylinders. Noting that the plane and the sphere have 3 independent locally tangential infinitesimal motions while the cylinder has 2, we obtain here a Laman-Henneberg theorem for frameworks on algebraic surfaces with a 1-dimensional space of tangential motions. Such…
We give a new characterisation of virtually free groups using graph minors. Namely, we prove that a finitely generated, infinite group is virtually free if and only if for any finite generating set, the corresponding Cayley graph is minor excluded. This answers a question of Ostrovskii and Rosenthal. The proof relies on showing that a finitely generated group that is minor excluded with respect to every finite generating set is accessible, using a graph-theoretic characterisation of accessibility due to Thomassen and Woess.
A grove is a spanning forest of a planar graph in which every component tree contains at least one of a special subset of vertices on the outer face called nodes. For the natural probability measure on groves, we compute various connection probabilities for the nodes in a random grove. In particular, for "tripartite" pairings of the nodes, the probability can be computed as a Pfaffian in the entries of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann matrix (discrete Hilbert transform) of the graph. These formulas generalize the determinant formulas given by Curtis, Ingerman, and Morrow, and by Fomin, for parallel pa…
We provide a constructive characterisation of circuits in the simple (2,2)-sparsity matroid. A circuit is a simple graph G=(V,E) with |E|=2|V|-1 and the number of edges induced by any $X \subsetneq V$ is at most 2|X|-2. Insisting on simplicity results in the Henneberg operation being enough only when the graph is sufficiently connected. Thus we introduce 3 different join operations to complete the characterisation. Extensions are discussed to when the sparsity matroid is connected and this is applied to the theory of frameworks on surfaces to provide a conjectured characterisation of when fram…
We classify recurrent states of the Abelian sandpile model (ASM) on the complete split graph. There are two distinct cases to be considered that depend upon the location of the sink vertex in the complete split graph. This characterisation of decreasing recurrent states is in terms of Motzkin words and can also be characterised in terms of combinatorial necklaces. We also give a characterisation of the recurrent states in terms of a new type of parking function that we call a tiered parking function. These parking functions are characterised by assigning a tier (or colour) to each of the cars,…
Interval graphs and interval orders are deeply linked. In fact, edges of an interval graphs represent the incomparability relation of an interval order, and in general, of different interval orders. The question about the conditions under which a given interval graph is associated to a unique interval order (up to duality) arises naturally. Fishburn provided a characterisation for uniquely orderable finite connected interval graphs. We show, by an entirely new proof, that the same characterisation holds also for infinite connected interval graphs. Using tools from reverse mathematics, we expla…
We study the first uniformly finite homology group of Block and Weinberger for uniformly locally finite graphs, with coefficients in $\mathbb{Z}$ and $\mathbb{Z}_2$. When the graph is a tree, or coefficients are in $\mathbb{Z}_2$, a characterisation of the group is obtained. In the general case, we describe three phenomena that entail non-vanishing of the group; their disjunction is shown to also be necessary for non-vanishing in the case of transitive graphs.
The classical Matrix-Tree Theorem allows one to list the spanning trees of a graph by monomials in the expansion of the determinant of a certain matrix. We prove that in the case of three-graphs (that is, hypergraphs whose edges have exactly three vertices) the spanning trees are generated by the Pfaffian of a suitably defined matrix. This result can be interpreted topologically as an expression for the lowest order term of the Alexander-Conway polynomial of an algebraically split link. We also prove some algebraic properties of our Pfaffian-tree polynomial.
In this paper we consider minors of ribbon graphs (or, equivalently, cellularly embedded graphs). The theory of minors of ribbon graphs differs from that of graphs in that contracting loops is necessary and doing this can create additional vertices and components. Thus the ribbon graph minor relation is incompatible with the graph minor relation. We discuss excluded minor characterisations of minor closed families of ribbon graphs. Our main result is an excluded minor characterisation of the family of ribbon graphs that represent knot and link diagrams.
This work provides a structural characterisation of hereditary graph classes that do not contain a star forest, several graphs obtained from star forests by subset complementation, a union of cliques, and the complement of a union of cliques as induced subgraphs. This provides, for instance, structural results for graph classes not containing a matching and several complements of a matching. In terms of the speed of hereditary graph classes, our results imply that all such classes have at most factorial speed of growth.
Countable Graphs with Finite Path-width: Characterisation and Universality
Institute for Basic Science (IBS)（基础科学研究所）；University College London（伦敦大学学院）；Monash University（蒙纳士大学）；University of Auckland（奥克兰大学）；Texas A&M University（德克萨斯农工大学）；Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics（阿尔弗雷德·雷尼数学研究所）
Using a graph-based approach, we propose a multiscale permutation entropy to explore the complexity of multivariate time series over multiple time scales. This multivariate multiscale permutation entropy (MPEG) incorporates the interaction between channels by constructing an underlying graph for each coarse-grained time series and then applying the recent permutation entropy for graph signals. Given the challenge posed by noise in real-world data analysis, we investigate the robustness to noise of MPEG using synthetic time series and demonstrating better performance than similar multivariate e…
