Non-recursive Counts of Graphs on Surfaces

Authors Nicholas M. Ercolani, Joceline Lega, Brandon Tippings

Publication date 2 October 2022

Abstract: The problem of map enumeration concerns counting connected spatial graphs, with a specified number

j

of vertices, that can be embedded in a compact surface of genus

g

in such a way that its complement yields a cellular decomposition of the surface. As such this problem lies at the cross-roads of combinatorial studies in low dimensional topology and graph theory. The determination of explicit formulae for map counts, in terms of closed classical combinatorial functions of

g

and

j

as opposed to a recursive prescription, has been a long-standing problem with explicit results known only for very low values of

g

. In this paper we derive closed-form expressions for counts of maps with an arbitrary number of even-valent vertices, embedded in surfaces of arbitrary genus. In particular, we exhibit a number of higher genus examples for 4-valent maps that have not appeared prior in the literature.

This page was built for publication: Non-recursive Counts of Graphs on Surfaces

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q6412681)