Generating functions for multi-labeled trees

Multi-labeled trees are a generalization of phylogenetic trees that are used, for example, in the study of gene versus species evolution and as the basis for phylogenetic network construction. Unlike phylogenetic trees, in a leaf-multi-labeled tree it is possible to label more than one leaf by the same element of the underlying label set. In this paper we derive formulae for generating functions of leaf-multi-labeled trees and use these to derive recursions for counting such trees. In particular, we prove results which generalize previous theorems by Harding on so-called tree-shapes, and by Otter on relating the number of rooted and unrooted phylogenetic trees.     

An Infinite Antichain of Planar Tanglegrams

Contrary to the expectation arising from the tanglegram Kuratowski theorem of Czabarka et al. (SIAM J. Discrete Math. 31(3), 1732–1750, 2017), we construct an infinite antichain of planar tanglegrams with respect to the induced subtanglegram partial order. R.E. Tarjan, R. Laver, D.A. Spielman and M. Bóna, and possibly others, showed that the partially ordered set of finite permutations ordered by deletion of entries contains an infinite antichain, i.e., there exists an infinite collection of permutations, such that none of them contains another as a pattern. Our construction adds a twist to the construction of Spielman and Bóna (Electr. J. Comb. 7, N2, 2000).

     

Using block designs in crossing number bounds

The crossing number $\mathrm{\text{CR}}\left(G\right)$ of a graph $G=\left(V,E\right)$ is the smallest number of edge crossings over all drawings of $G$ in the plane. For any $k\ge 1$, the $k$‐planar crossing number of $G,{\mathrm{\text{CR}}}_k\left(G\right)$, is defined as the minimum of $\text{CR}\left(G_1\right)+\text{CR}\left(G_2\right)+?+\text{CR}\left(G_k\right)$ over all graphs $G_1,G_2,\dots ,G_k$ with ${\cup }_{i=1}^k{G}_i=G$. Pach et al [Comput. Geom.: Theory Appl. 68 (2018), pp. 2–6] showed that for every $k\ge 1$, we have ${\text{CR}}_k\left(G\right)\le (2/k^2?1/k^3)\text{CR}\left(G\right)$ and that this bound does not remain true if we replace the constant $2/k^2?1/k^3$ by any number smaller than $1/k^2$. We improve the upper bound to $(1/k^2)\left(1+o\left(1\right)\right)$ as $k\to \infty$. For the class of bipartite graphs, we show that the best constant is exactly $1/k^2$ for every $k$. The results extend to the rectilinear variant of the $k$‐planar crossing number.     

A tanglegram Kuratowski theorem

A tanglegram consists of two rooted binary plane trees with the same number of leaves and a perfect matching between the two leaf sets. Tanglegrams are drawn with the leaves on two parallel lines, the trees on either side of the strip created by these lines, and the perfect matching inside the strip. If this can be done without any edges crossing, a tanglegram is called planar. We show that every nonplanar tanglegram contains one of two nonplanar 4-leaf tanglegrams as an induced subtanglegram, which parallels Kuratowski's Theorem.     

General Lower Bounds for the Minor Crossing Number of Graphs

There are three general lower bound techniques for the crossing numbers of graphs: the Crossing Lemma, the bisection method and the embedding method. In this contribution, we present their adaptations to the minor crossing number. Using the adapted bounds, we improve on the known bounds on the minor crossing number of hypercubes. We also point out relations of the minor crossing number to string graphs and establish a lower bound for the standard crossing number in terms of Randič index.     

Biplanar crossing numbers. II. Comparing crossing numbers and biplanar crossing numbers using the probabilistic method

The biplanar crossing number cr₂(G) of a graph G is min{cr(G₁) + cr(G₂)}, where cr is the planar crossing number. We show that cr₂(G) ≤ (3/8)cr(G). Using this result recursively, we bound the thickness by Θ(G) ‐ 2 ≤ Kcr₂(G)^0.4057 log₂n with some constant K. A partition realizing this bound for the thickness can be obtained by a polynomial time randomized algorithm. We show that for any size exceeding a certain threshold, there exists a graph G of this size, which simultaneously has the following properties: cr(G) is roughly as large as it can be for any graph of that size, and cr₂(G) is as small as it can be for any graph of that size. The existence is shown using the probabilistic method. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2008     

Enumerations of peaks and valleys on non-decreasing Dyck paths

A valley in a Dyck path is a local minimum, and a peak is a local maximum. A Dyck path is non-decreasing if the $y$-coordinates of the valleys of the path valley form anon-decreasing sequence. In this paper we provide some statistics about peaks and valleys in non-decreasing Dyck paths, such as their total number, the number of low and high valleys, low and high peaks, etc. Our methods include bijective proofs, recursive relations, and the symbolic method for generating functions.     

The inverse problem for certain tree parameters

Let p be a graph parameter that assigns a positive integer value to every graph. The inverse problem for p asks for a graph within a prescribed class (here, we will only be concerned with trees), given the value of p. In this context, it is of interest to know whether such a graph can be found for all or at least almost all integer values of p. We will provide a very general setting for this type of problem over the set of all trees, describe some simple examples and finally consider the interesting parameter “number of subtrees”, where the problem can be reduced to some number-theoretic considerations. Specifically, we will prove that every positive integer, with only 34 exceptions, is the number of subtrees of some tree.