A simple proof of an inequality connecting the alternating number of independent sets and the decycling number

Vadim E. Levit, Eugen Mandrescu

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7 Scopus citations

Abstract

If sk denotes the number of independent sets of cardinality k and α(G) is the size of a maximum independent set in graph G, then I(G;x)=s0+s1x+⋯+sα( G)xα(G) is the independence polynomial of G (Gutman and Harary, 1983) [8]. In this paper we provide an elementary proof of the inequality|I(G;-1)|≤2φ(G) (Engstrm, 2009) [7], where φ(G) is the decycling number of G (Beineke and Vandell, 1997) [3], namely, the minimum number of vertices that have to be deleted in order to turn G into a forest.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1204-1206
Number of pages3
JournalDiscrete Mathematics
Volume311
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Jul 2011

Keywords

  • Cyclomatic number
  • Decycling number
  • Forest
  • Independence polynomial
  • Independent set

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