Roots of chromatic polynomials (Q5937579)

The chromatic polynomial \(P(G,\lambda)\) of a graph \(G\) with chromatic number \(\chi\) has a root with modulus at least \([m- ({\chi\over 2})]/(n- \chi)\), where \(n (m)\) is the number of vertices (edges) of \(G\). This bound is proved to be best possible for \((\chi-1)\)-trees only. A sufficient condition for complex roots of \(P(G,\lambda)\) in terms of the numbers of triangles, 4-cycles and complete graphs of order 4 in the graph \(G\) is given, too.