Rooted trees with the same plucking polynomial (Q2272809): Difference between revisions

Let \(T\) be a rooted tree drawn in the upper half plane so that the root is at the origin. Define the plucking polynomial \(Q(T)\) recursively as follows. When \(T\) has order 1, \(Q(T)=1\). When \(|V(T)|>1\), let \[ Q(T)= \sum_{v\in L} q^{r(v)}Q(T-v), \] where the sum is over the set \(L\) of leaves of \(T\), \(r(v)\) is the number of edges of \(T\) to the right of the unique path joining \(v\) to the root, and \(T-v\) is the subtree of \(T\) with the leaf \(v\) removed. \textit{J. H. Przytycki} [Arnold Math. J. 2, No. 4, 449--461 (2016; Zbl 1358.05057)] introduced this polynomial motivated by the Kauffman bracket skein modules of 3-manifolds. The primary question addressed in this paper is when do two rooted trees have the same plucking polynomial. The question is answered in two ways along with an interesting discussion on operations on trees that preserve the plucking polynomial.