Black-white polynomials of graphs and generating functions

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Goodenough, Kenneth, Gunnells, Paul E.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866918441067216896
author Goodenough, Kenneth
Gunnells, Paul E.
author_facet Goodenough, Kenneth
Gunnells, Paul E.
contents Let G be a graph. The black-white polynomial W_G(t) enumerates colorings of the vertices of G with two colors (black and white), where the power of t keeps track of how many white vertices have an even number of black neighbors. Such polynomials appear in quantum information theory, where they are used to capture properties of the entanglement in certain quantum states described by graphs. In this paper we describe how to use generating functions to compute these polynomials for various families X of graphs. Our main results are the following: (i) we describe some constructions under which X leads to a rational generating function; (ii) we use a matrix model to construct the exponential generating function of the black-white polynomials of all graphs; and (iii) we generalize a construction of Wright to build exponential generating functions of black-white polynomials for graphs of a given loop number.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_10719
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Black-white polynomials of graphs and generating functions
Goodenough, Kenneth
Gunnells, Paul E.
Combinatorics
05A15, 05C31, 81T18, 81P40, 81P45
Let G be a graph. The black-white polynomial W_G(t) enumerates colorings of the vertices of G with two colors (black and white), where the power of t keeps track of how many white vertices have an even number of black neighbors. Such polynomials appear in quantum information theory, where they are used to capture properties of the entanglement in certain quantum states described by graphs. In this paper we describe how to use generating functions to compute these polynomials for various families X of graphs. Our main results are the following: (i) we describe some constructions under which X leads to a rational generating function; (ii) we use a matrix model to construct the exponential generating function of the black-white polynomials of all graphs; and (iii) we generalize a construction of Wright to build exponential generating functions of black-white polynomials for graphs of a given loop number.
title Black-white polynomials of graphs and generating functions
topic Combinatorics
05A15, 05C31, 81T18, 81P40, 81P45
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.10719