Closed-form conjecture for the precoloring polynomial of the hexwheel network

From papers

Let NN be the network from the hexwheel example, let m3m\geq 3, and write cpm(λ)=rcp(M(N))\operatorname{cp}_m(\lambda)=\operatorname{rcp}(M(N)). Let ω±=λ2±λ2+4\omega_\pm=\lambda-2\pm\sqrt{\lambda^2+4}. Hexwheel precoloring-polynomial conjecture. For m3m\geq 3,

cpm(λ+1)=ω+m+ωm2m+(1)m(λm1).\operatorname{cp}_m(\lambda+1)=\frac{\omega_+^m+\omega_-^m}{2^m}+(-1)^m(\lambda-m-1).

In particular, the polynomials satisfy

cp3(λ)=λ36λ2+14λ13,\operatorname{cp}_3(\lambda)=\lambda^3-6\lambda^2+14\lambda-13, cp4(λ)=λ48λ3+28λ251λ+41,\operatorname{cp}_4(\lambda)=\lambda^4-8\lambda^3+28\lambda^2-51\lambda+41,

and

cpm+2(λ)=(λ1)cpm+1(λ)+(λ+1)cpm(λ)+(1)m(2λ+m1).\operatorname{cp}_{m+2}(\lambda)=(\lambda-1)\operatorname{cp}_{m+1}(\lambda)+(\lambda+1)\operatorname{cp}_m(\lambda)+(-1)^m(-2\lambda+m-1).

The formula and recurrence were verified computationally for m11m\leq 11, but no proof or resolution is supplied in the source.

Progress summary

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Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Bob Lutz, “Matroids arising from electrical networks”, arXiv:1809.10100 (2022).

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