Dong–Ge–Gong–Ning–Ouyang–Tay higher-derivative conjecture for chromatic polynomials

From papers

Let GG be a graph of order nn, and let P(G,x)P(G,x) denote its chromatic polynomial. For x<0x<0, the quantity (1)nP(G,x)(-1)^nP(G,x) is positive, so its logarithm is defined. Dong–Ge–Gong–Ning–Ouyang–Tay's higher-derivative conjecture. The inequality

dkdxk(ln[(1)nP(G,x)])<0\frac{d^k}{dx^k}\left(\ln[(-1)^nP(G,x)]\right)<0

holds for all k2k\geq 2 and x(,0)x\in(-\infty,0). This extends the known negativity of the first derivative, P(G,x)/P(G,x)<0P'(G,x)/P(G,x)<0, to all higher derivatives and concerns the sign pattern of logarithmic derivatives of chromatic polynomials on the negative real axis; its resolution is not stated here.

Progress summary

Nothing recorded yet. Refresh searches the literature and the public web for attempts on this problem, and writes the first summary here.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Bo Ning and Yan Yang, “On derivatives and higher-order derivatives of chromatic polynomials”, arXiv:2604.13221 (2026).

Additional references

2 papers in this index state this conjecture (2026). The statement above is taken from the most recent of them; the others are arXiv:2603.07510.

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