Salas–Sokal conjecture for planar bipartite graphs

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Let GG be a planar bipartite graph, and let P(G,t)P(G,t) be its chromatic polynomial. Let τ=(1+5)/2\tau=(1+\sqrt{5})/2 be the golden ratio. Salas–Sokal conjecture.

P(G,t)>0for t∈[τ2,∞).P(G,t)>0\quad\text{for }t\in[\tau^2,\infty).

Equivalently, planar bipartite graphs should have no real chromatic roots at or above τ2\tau^2. The source notes that Salas and Sokal constructed families with chromatic roots tending to τ2\tau^2, giving evidence for sharpness.

References

Primary source

Bill Jackson, “Zeros of Chromatic and Flow Polynomials of Graphs”, arXiv:math/0205047 (2002).

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