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Chromatic Polynomial

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39 views3 pages

Chromatic Polynomial

Uploaded by

MANCE MATHS TUTOR
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Math 4707

Chromatic Polynomials

Dennis White

November 3, 2010

The chromatic polynomial of a simple graph G, CG (λ), is the number of ways of properly coloring
the vertices of G using λ colors. For example, if G is the complete graph Kn , then there are λ ways
of coloring one vertex, λ−1 ways to color another, etc. Therefore, CKn (λ) = λ(λ−1) . . . (λ−n+ 1).

As another example, if G is the null graph Nn (n vertices and no edges), then there are λ ways to
color each vertex, so CNn (λ) = λn .

As a third example, let T be any tree with n vertices.

Theorem 1. If T is a tree, then CT (λ) = λ(λ − 1)n−1 .

Proof. By induction on the number of vertices of T . It is clearly true when T has 2 vertices (it is
K2 ). Now suppose it is true for any tree with n − 1 vertices and let T be a tree with n vertices. Pick
a terminal vertex, v. Prune v from T , leaving T 0 , which has n − 1 vertices. By induction, there are
λ(λ − 1)n−2 ways to color T 0 using no more than λ colors. But then there are λ − 1 ways to color v
(since it cannot be colored the same as the vertex to which it is adjacent), giving λ(λ − 1)n−1 ways
to color T using no more than λ colors.

An important tool for computing chromatic polynomials is the deletion-contraction recursion. Let
e be an edge in the simple graph G. Let G − e be the graph obtained by removing e and let G/e
be the graph obtained by shrinking e to a single vertex (called “contracting”), or, equivalently,
by removing e and pasting the two endpoints together (and removing multiple edges). Here are a
couple of examples of contractions.

1 1

G G /e
e 3
2 (2,3)

1
1 2 1 2

G G /e
e
3 4 (3,4)

Theorem 2. The chromatic polynomial of G satisfies the recursion

CG (λ) = CG−e (λ) − CG/e (λ) .

Proof. We prove instead


CG (λ) + CG/e (λ) = CG−e (λ) .
Suppose e is incident upon u and v. Note that G is formed from G − e by adding an edge between
non-adjacent u and v and G/e is obtained from G − e by pasting together non-adjacent vertices u
and v. Now suppose f is a proper coloring of G − e. Either u and v are colored differently or are
colored the same. In the former case, f will be a proper coloring of G, while in the latter case, f
will be a proper coloring of G/e by coloring the combined u-v vertex the color of u. On the other
hand, suppose f is a proper coloring of G. Then it is obviously a proper coloring of G − e with u
and v colored differently. Finally, if f is a proper coloring of G/e, then it is a proper coloring of
G − e by coloring both u and v the color of the combined u-v vertex.

A great deal of information is contained in the chromatic polynomial. This theorem tells some of
it.

Theorem 3. Suppose G is a simple graph. Then CG (λ) is a polynomial in λ with the following
properties.

1. The degree of CG (λ) is n, the number of vertices of G, and the coefficient of λn is 1.

2. The coefficient of λn−1 is −m where m is the number of edges of G.

3. The number of components of G is the lowest degree term with non-zero coefficient.

4. The signs of the coefficients of CG (λ) alternate.

Proof. The proof is by induction on the number of edges, using the deletion-contraction theorem.
The theorem is clearly true for the null graph (no edges), since CNn (λ) = λn .

Now suppose the theorem is true for all graphs with fewer than m edges and let G be a graph with
m edges, m ≥ 1. Pick an edge e and write

CG (λ) = CG−e (λ) − CG/e (λ) .

Since, by induction, CG−e (λ) and CG/e (λ) are both polynomials in λ, CG (λ) will be a polynomial
in λ. Also by induction, the degree of CG−e (λ) is n (with coefficient 1), while the degree of CG/e (λ)
is n − 1 (with coefficient 1). Therefore the degree of CG (λ) is n with coefficient 1.

2
By induction, the coefficient of λn−1 in CG−e (λ) is the negative of the number of edges in G − e
and the coefficient of λn−1 in CG/e (λ) is 1, so the coefficient of λn−1 in CG (λ) is the negative of the
number of edges in G.

By induction, the signs of CG−e (λ) alternate, starting with + for λn , while the signs of CG/e (λ)
alternate, starting with + for λn−1 . Therefore the signs of CG (λ) will alternate, starting with +
for λn .

Finally, by induction, the lowest power with non-zero coefficient of CG−e (λ) is the number of
components of G − e, while the lowest power with non-zero coefficient of CG/e (λ) is the number
of components of G/e. Since G/e has the same number of components as G and G − e has either
the same number or one more component as G, it follows that the lowest power with non-zero
coefficient of CG (λ) is the number of components of G.

Note that the induction in this last proof was “strong induction.” That is, the inductive hypothesis
was that the statement was true for all graphs with fewer than m edges (not just m − 1 edges). We
needed this stronger hypothesis because G/e might have < m − 1 edges.

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