Chromatic polynomial after attaching a leaf

ID: chromatic-polynomial-after-attaching-a-leaf

Chromatic polynomial after attaching a leaf by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Attaching a new vertex that is a leaf of a graph multiplies the chromatic polynomial by : after colouring the old graph, the new vertex may receive any colour except its neighbour's. Starting with one vertex and repeatedly adding a leaf of a graph constructs any finite tree. Thus a tree with vertices has
In contrast, every pair of vertices in a complete graph must receive different colours, so the multiplication principle gives the falling factorial
For positive integers this product vanishes, expressing the impossibility of assigning distinct colours to all vertices.

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