Some new evaluations of the Tutte polynomial (Q2490250)

The Tutte polynomial of a graph \(G\) is defined as \(T(G;x,y)= \sum_{F\subseteq E}(x-1)^{r(E)-r(F)}(y-1)^{|F|-r(F)}\) where \(r(F)\) is the rank function of \(G\). It is well known that the Tutte polynomial specialises to the chromatic polynomial and flow polynomial. In this paper, the author gives some new interpretations for evaluations of the Tutte polynomial on certain points of the hyperbolae \(H_q=\{(x,y)\mid (x-1)(y-1)= q\}\) with \(q\) a positive number. One of the correlations gives a curious interpretation for the chromatic polynomial, the number of proper vertex \(q\)-colourings of \(G\).