Divided differences of multivariate implicit functions (Q1759586)

Under general conditions, the equation \(g(x^1,\ldots x^q ,y)=0\) implicitly defines \(y\) locally as a function of \(x^1, \ldots,x^q\) . In this article, we express divided differences of \(y\) in terms of divided differences of \(g\), generalizing a recent formula for the case where \(y\) is univariate. The formula involves a sum over a combinatorial structure whose elements can be viewed either as polygonal partitions or as plane trees. Through this connection we prove as a corollary a formula for derivatives of \(y\) in terms of derivatives of \(g\). The relation between these formulas yields a generating function for the number of terms in the formula for devided differences of implicit functions.