On the local and global mean orders of sub-\(k\)-trees of \(k\)-trees (Q2692183)

Summary: In this paper we show that for a given \(k\)-tree \(T\) with a \(k\)-clique \(C\), the local mean order of all sub-\(k\)-trees of \(T\) containing \(C\) is not less than the global mean order of all sub-\(k\)-trees of \(T\), and the path-type \(k\)-trees have the smallest global mean sub-\(k\)-tree order among all \(k\)-trees of a given order. These two results give solutions to two problems of \textit{A. M. Stephens} and \textit{O. R. Oellermann} [J. Graph Theory 88, No. 1, 61--79 (2018; Zbl 1391.05082)] concerning the mean order of sub-\(k\)-trees of \(k\)-trees. Furthermore, the mean sub-\(k\)-tree order as a function on \(k\)-trees is shown to be monotone with respect to inclusion. This generalizes \textit{R. E. Jamison-Waldner}'s result for the case \(k=1\) [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. B 35, 207--223 (1983; Zbl 0509.05034)].